Searching for Spectra
by Breezyfeather
Summary: Sequel to Christmas Disaster! Dan and Runo are on vacation in Hawaii for Christmas and New Year's. They're not expecting the Vexos to show up! But when Dan almost drowns, guess who saves him. I suggest you read Christmas Disaster first; trust me, it'll make more sense then.
1. Runins and Beware the Undertow

"**Alright then. Since everybody seemed to really like that story, I think I'll give in and make the sequel," Breezyfeather says. "Who can guess what this is the sequel to?"**

"**Christmas Disaster," Shun says.**

"**Hey! I wanted them to guess!"**

"**You said it in the description."**

"**I did? Dang it!"**

"**Okay. On with the story," Runo smiles.**

"**Isn't that my line?" Breezyfeather protests.**

"**You gave me a twenty to say it now."**

"**I DID WHAT?"**

"**On with the story!"**

Runo looked around the cobblestone streets with a relaxed smile on her face. She and Dan had been here in Maui for a few days and New Years was just four days away. Runo couldn't believe that just a week before she had been held captive on another planet. She couldn't even remember what the snow had felt like. It had been lost in the warm waters of the ocean.

Dan walked a little ahead of her, Drago perched on his shoulder. He, too, was relaxed, and happy. He was confident that the Vexos wouldn't find them here. After all, they hadn't mentioned their plans to even Mira. This was a vacation from brawling and from constantly having to look over their shoulders. He didn't want it to end with him being on edge because Spectra was pestering him for the Perfect Core energy.

"Hey Dan, isn't that the surf shop right there?" Drago asked. Dan blinked, looking at Drago and then following his gaze.

"Nah, that's not it," Dan said. Runo blinked, looking at the shop he was looking at. She sighed, noting the surfboard erected next to the "Open" sign, and then reading the shops name. "Tim's Surfboard Rental". This was it alright.

"Dan?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"That's the shop."

"Oh."

"Told you," Drago said. The smile was evident in his voice.

"Oh be quiet Drago," Dan grinned. He started up the stairs to the shop, then blinked as an employee opened the door. He didn't notice Dan and proceeded over to the "Open" sign. "Hi," Dan said. The employee jumped and turned around, catching sight of Dan and Runo.

"Oh hi kids," he said. "I'm sorry, but my shop is closed."

"How come?" Runo asked curiously. The employee looked at her.

"Because today is so beautiful, a ton of tourists and natives alike have been coming into my shop. We just rented out our last board a little while ago to some kid wearing a mask," he said. Dan stiffened and shot a glance at Runo, who exchanged his. She, too, was now on edge.

"Oh. That's weird that he was wearing a mask," Runo said, trying to remain neutral.

"Yeah. He looked kinda shady, too. Normally I wouldn't have rented him that board, but the girl with him managed to convince me. They were an odd group," the man said.

"Group? But you said-" Dan started.

"I know I said boy and girl. But there were four others with them. I dunno. Why are you so interested in those kids anyway?" Runo and Dan were silent and the employee signed. "Oh well. Anyway, you'll just have to settle for swimming in the water. Drop by early tomorrow and you'll probably be able to rent out some boards. I can set reservations if you want."

"No, that's okay. We'll just come by early tomorrow. Thanks," Dan said, turning. "Come on Runo." She turned to follow him when the employee's voice came again.

"Runo?" the employee said. They turned again, confused. "I remember the girl said something about a boy and a girl named Dan and Runo. I thought they were talking about a book or something but maybe not. What, are you guys relatives or something?"

Dan and Runo's eyes widened and they exchanged startled glances again. The employee blinked and then shrugged. "From your reactions I'd say that isn't the case."

"Look, don't worry about it," Runo said. "We're just a little... surprised that they're here. We just haven't seen them in a while. That's all. I hope you have a good day and maybe we'll see you tomorrow. Thanks!" Dan and Runo walked down the steps in an agitated manner, both obviously trying not to run away in front of the employee, who hadn't moved.

"If you're in trouble with then let me know and I'll give you a hand," he called. "The name's Tim and you'll find me here every day of the week."

"Thanks man," Dan called back. "If we need some help we'll drop by."

"That was strange," Tigrerra commented after they ducked around the corner of an alleyway. "Do you think that he was talking about the Vexos?"

"It sure sounds like it," Drago said.

"But what would the Vexos we doing in Maui?" Runo asked.

"If they're looking for us it would give them a reason enough," Dan muttered.

"But how would they have found out where we are?" Runo questioned. She was agitated, her hands fists at her sides. Dan looked at her helplessly.

"I'm not sure. If they tracked our Gauntlets then they might have been able to find us, but they would check Japan first. Why would they be working on their holiday anyway?" Dan said.

"Everyone calm down," Drago said. They glanced at him. "We don't have complete proof that the Vexos are here. They could be some Bakugan brawlers from when we had to save the world from Naga. Remember those boys we ran into at the park with Barron and the others."

"Hm. I guess you're right," Dan said. "But I think that we should be careful."

"By doing what? Dan this is vacation," Tigrerra said. "You guys should make the most of it without having to look over your shoulders all the time."

"Tigrerra's right, Runo," Dan said after a moment of silence. "We should keep having fun. Lets try to forget the Vexos. It probably wasn't them anyway."

"Okay," Runo murmured. Then, she brightened. "Come on, Dan, lets go to the beach! I didn't put on my bathing suit for nothing, let's go!"

"Okay," Dan grinned. "Race you there! No wings!"

"As if! In broad daylight?"

"Ha ha! Let's go!" Dan laughed. He jumped out of the alleyway and started down the street.

"Hey! No fair Dan," Runo shouted. "You got a head start!"

"Move it or loose it Runo!" Dan called back. Runo rolled her eyes but sprinted after him, weaving around the many tourists, somehow managing to not knock anyone over. People jumped out of the way at the last second while Runo and Dan dashed toward the beach. Runo could feel the wind in her hair, pushing it back. Tigrerra managed to stay on her shoulder, as did Drago on Dan's shoulder. Runo smiled, resisting the urge to jump and fly with her wings.

Suddenly, Dan felt himself slam into a body. He gasped as a sudden pain exploded in his shoulder. The pedestrian he crashed into let out a yelp and the two slammed into the pavement, both managing to keep their heads off of the ground. The other person moaned in pain as he sat up, then gasped. Runo dashed over to him and gasped, skidding to a halt. Dan blinked, finding himself lying on his side on the pavement. He sat up, then glanced at the person he crashed into. He gasped in shock as he realized who it was.

"Lync!" Runo gasped. Lync stared at the two battlers in front of him and didn't bother to close his open mouth.

"Lync, are you okay?" Mylene asked, looking down at the pink haired Ventus brawler. She looked up at Dan and Runo, blinking in shock. "Well look what the cat dragged in."

"What are you doing here?" Dan asked, moving in front of Runo.

"Hmph," Lync grunted, getting to his feet. "You could say sorry."

"Sorry," Dan muttered, looking away. "What are you doing here on Earth?"

"We don't have to explain ourselves to you," Lync retorted.

"Gee sorry, but this is my world and-" Dan started sarcastically, but Mylene cut him off.

"For your information, we calibrated the transporter wrong," Mylene snapped. "We were trying to go home to Vestal for the holidays but instead, we ended up here on this island."

"I guess they really were the group in the surf shop," Drago muttered. Mylene rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, so what? Spectra and Shadow wanted to surf, for who knows what reason. They were buying bathing suits over there," Mylene said, gesturing to a swimsuit store. "Or at least I think that's what you _humans _call them." She spat the word with distaste and Dan's lip curled.

"You're asking for it," Dan growled. Mylene smirked.

"Dan, calm down," Runo urged him. Dan sighed, still clearly mad.

"Runo's right Dan," Drago murmured in his ear. "We shouldn't pick a fight."

"Whatever," Dan muttered. "We're on vacation. I'd rather not fight right now. Sorry I ran into you. We'll be going now." He grabbed Runo's wrist gently despite his anger and pulled her in the direction of the beach, leaving Mylene and Lync standing there. Lync crossed his arms and looked angry while Mylene glared after them.

"What was that about?" Tigrerra asked.

"What were they doing here?" Dan growled.

"They said they had a problem with the transporter," Drago told Dan.

"I know that, but I bet they're lying," Dan muttered.

"Dan, they could be telling the truth you know," Runo said quietly. Dan slowed down, turning to look at her. He looked at her curiously, without anger in his eyes. "Mistakes happen sometimes. You of all people should know." She smirked at the last part.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dan asked defiantly. They started walking again.

"Well for one thing you burnt popcorn in the microwave," Runo said. She had a cocky grin on her face.

"What? How did you know about that?" Dan whined. "And that was an accident!"

"Your mom told me," Runo grinned.

"Yeah well you dropped the tray when you were working back when Mira and Barron came to Earth with us," Dan retorted. Runo's grin vanished and she glared at him.

"Hey you tend to loose your balance when someone is making googly eyes over your baby pictures and having a newscast with a spoon as a microphone!" she shouted. Dan laughed and she blinked, then blushed and laughed as well.

"Some things never change," Drago laughed.

"Just like old times," Tigrerra agreed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Runo and Dan cried. The two Bakugan were floating in front of their brawlers now.

"Oh, nothing," Tigrerra said. There was a mischievous tone in her voice.

"Come on we don't fight that much anymore!" Dan whined. They had reached the beach and were walking away from the other people, so they weren't staring at them. Their feet sank into the sand, making it hard to walk.

"Oh really?" Drago said. "Yesterday you two had a fight over who would have the last corn dog!"

"You shouldn't talk, mister!" Runo said. "You and Dan got into a fight over whether or not he'd use a tooth brush to scratch you or a wash cloth!"

"Silence human!" he shouted at Runo.

"Make me!" Runo laughed.

"Hey Runo, this seems like a nice place to set up," Dan said. They were slightly away from the rest of the people on the beach, but they could still hear the other people talking.

"Yeah, this is good," Runo smiled. She pulled off her cover up, a thin white dress. She was wearing a blue bathing suit and now let her hair out of her pig tails, tucking her new hair ties and bracelet inside her duffel bag. Dan pulled off his shirt and grinned at her, tossing his sunglasses onto the beach towel. He grabbed a bottle of sunscreen and they spent the next ten minutes rubbing it on and then waiting for it to dry.

"Race ya!" Runo challenged Dan, taking off toward the water.

"Hey no fair!" he called, dashing after her.

"Hey you snooze you lose!" Runo smirked. Her feet slammed against the hard wet sand, then her toes slapped the water. She didn't stop running until she was knee deep in the water. Then she carefully waded in, shivering as the slightly chilly water brushed her waist. Water splashed against her back and she yelped, whirling around to catch Dan laughing.

"Oh if you think it's so funny..." she growled, flinging water at him, "how about you have some?"

"Ah! No, Runo, that's cold!" he cried.

"Then why'd you do it to me?" She jumped at him, forcing him under the water as a wave crashed over their heads. They both surfaced gasping and spitting out salt water. Runo splashed more water at Dan and jumped into deeper water, running through it not helping her very much. Dan grabbed her and the two tumbled back under the water. They surfaced gasping and laughing. Runo continued to swim out deeper, until she couldn't touch the bottom. She grinned at Dan as he swam over to her.

"Okay. Now what?" Dan asked.

"Hm... good question," Runo said. "Hey I wonder what would happen if we tried out our wings underwater!"

"Wow that would be cool," Dan said. "Mine probably wouldn't show up since they're made of fire."

"Yeah... hey try it anyway!" Runo said. Dan grinned, then willed his wings to appear. Instantly, steam filled the air. They blinked and Runo gasped at the blue flames. Then, they laughed as Dan put them away. A light ocean breeze carried the steam up to the sky, and no one seemed to notice.

"You're turn, Runo," Dan grinned. Runo nodded and then her wings were there, sparkling and moving back and forth on their own. They didn't seem to be affected by the water. "Lucky! Mine will make water evaporate but yours stay the same." Runo shook her head as she put them away.

"But yours are blue if they get wet," Runo protested. "I think that's cool."

"Hm. I guess you're right. I have cool wings!" Runo smiled and jumped on him again, forcing him under. He gasped before his head was submerged and struggled, getting away from Runo. He laughed as he surfaced, then gasped as he felt himself being tugged under again, this time by an under current. Runo's eyes widened and they locked eyes for an instant. Shock and horror met surprise and terror, and then Dan's head was pulled under.

"Dan!" Runo cried. She swam over to where she had seen him be pulled away and didn't see him under the water. "Dan! No! Dan!"

"Runo what's wrong?" Tigrerra asked, she and Drago floating out over the water.

"It's Dan! He was caught by an undercurrent!"

"Oh no," Drago gasped. "Dan!"

"Can you see him?" Runo yelped. "We need to find him!"

Dan felt the saltwater sting his nose and eyes as he was bounced off the bottom of the ocean. All he could see was blurs of salt water, and then he was tossed up off the floor. He was brought to the surface and gasped for air, but was then pulled under the water again. Water filled his mouth and he choked, struggling to get free from the undercurrent. He felt his shoulder slam into the water again and grimaced, holding his breath.

So this was how it was going to end. He had survived a sword fight with Spectra, being sent to the Doom Dimension, Shun's house, and this was how he was going to die. By being tossed around and at the mercy of the ocean. He was going to drown and never breathe again. He was going to inhale the water and sink down to the bottom of the ocean and lie there until the marine life devoured his corpse. He was never going to see Runo's face again.

He opened his eyes again, immediately regretting it for the sting it came with. But if these were his final moments, then any sensation was welcomed. He felt his eyes sting with warm salt water, his tears. He would never see his mom again. Or his dad. Or Drago. Or Runo. It was the thought of Runo crying at his funeral that hurt him the most. He loved that girl. She had almost died before. She had pulled through. But it looked as though he wouldn't be so lucky.

Suddenly, warm, strong hands gripped Dan under the arms. He blinked, looking up. He couldn't see the face, but he felt himself being brought to the surface. Dan didn't try to help. He was too weak from the beating he had endured, courtesy of the ocean. Then they were at the surface, and Dan coughe, spitting out water. He choked on the air that he never thought he'd breath in again, but he welcomed it. He coughed and coughed until he moaned, leaning against his savior weakly. Whoever it was pulled him toward the shore backward, so Dan was leaning against his chest. He knew it was a boy because he wore no shirt. Dan started to kick to help, but found little energy to do so.

"Don't try to swim, you're too weak right now," the boy said. Dan obliged, leaning back against him tiredly. He breathed raggedly, but he was breathing. He was alive.

Then the boy's feet touched the sand, jolting Dan. He gasped as a wave washed over them, but the boy had his feet planted firmly in the sand and they didn't get pulled back out. The boy pulled Dan back, and after a few minutes they were at the beach. The boy dragged Dan out of the water and onto the sand, out of the waters reach. Dan coughed again, lying, panting, on the sand.

"Dan!" Dan opened his eyes, turning his head, weakly, to the right. He saw a blue haired girl running toward him, two balls clasped in her hands. Drago and Tigrerra. "Dan! Are you okay?"

"Runo...? Runo!" Dan struggled to sit up, then Runo froze, skidding to a halt. Her eyes were wide in shock and she took a step back. Dan blinked at her in confusion, then turned his head back to his savior. He didn't recognize him.

The boy had a strong abdomen and very tan skin. He wore red swimming trunks that reached his knees. His blond hair was long and stuck to his shoulders, chest and back because they were wet, and he had blue eyes. He was sitting on the sand, clearly tired. He looked at Dan with a level gaze, his mouth a straight line.

"Geez Dan, don't you know how to swim?" the boy asked. Dan's eyes widened and he gasped, staring at the boy in shock.

"Sp-Spectra?"

"**AGH I HATE SPELLING ALIVE ON THIS THING!" Breezyfeather shouts.**

"**Ow ow ow, don't scream right next to my ear!" Keith yells.**

"**Sorry. But whenever I spell alive on this thing I hit the "c" key and then it auto-corrects it to say "Alice"," Breezyfeather grumbles. "And how come a lot of my chapters end in someone gasping someone else's name?"**

"**You're the author. You should know," Dan says. "And why did you almost kill me?"**

"**I actually planned it out. I had to have Keith show up like that. I just couldn't think of a better way to do that," Breezyfeather says. "But you guys did inspire me to make a sequel to this! I have some of it planned out. I have to finish doing that... but yeah. Please tell me what you think!"**

**Review please!**

**They're my candy!**

**:)(:**


	2. Questions Answered?

"**You have got to be kidding me," Dan sighs. "I almost drowned."**

"**I thought you would have stopped saying that after 3 hours," Breezyfeather says.**

"**I almost drowned."**

"**Can we lock him up somewhere?" Runo asks.**

"**I almost drowned.**

"**No. Sorry. Anyway... uh... I forgot what I was gonna say," Breezyfeather mutters.**

"**I almost drowned."**

"**Do you like pie?" Barron asks Runo.**

"**I almost drowned."**

"**Why the randomness?" Ace asks.**

"**I almost drowned."**

"**SOMONE MAKE HIM SHUT UP!" Runo screams, getting out a bat.**

"**I almost—AH!"**

**On with the story before she bashes his head in!**

"**Wait WHAT? YOU'RE JUST GOING TO LEAVE ME—HEY, HEY! Not the face!"**

**Yeah I forgot that in the other story I left Lync and Volt there... Oh well. They got forcibly transported somehow! Oh well. Too bad for them. xD**

**On with the story!**

"**I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU: NOT THE FACE!"**

"**DAN SHUT UP!"**

"Spectra?" Runo gasped. She shook her head and crossed the distance that spanned her and Dan, throwing a towel over his shoulders. She knelt down next to him and threw her arms around him. "Dan I thought you were gonna die!"

"I'm sorry, Runo," Dan said, hugging her and resting his chin on her head. He smiled at Drago, who floating in front of his face.

"You had me worried there, Dan," Drago said. "That was close."

"Master Spectra!"

"Spectra! Why did you just go and run off like that?" someone shouted. Spectra turned his head in annoyance to look at Mylene and the others, who were running up.

"Didn't I tell you to call me Keith?" Spectra asked. Mylene and Gus stopped short, causing Lync to crash into Gus and Shadow into Mylene. Volt walked up behind then and nodded at Runo, who stared at him.

"_You can think about this with your Bakugan friends," Volt said. "Listen closely, for this is the only time I'll tell it to you. If you ask me to repeat it tomorrow or even an hour later, I will deny ever telling it to you in the first place. Understand?"_

"_Uh, I guess," Runo said._

"_Listen closely, then._

"Six Elementals

one of fire

one of wind

one of water

one of darkness

one of light

one of earth

each has a power

each has a weakness

united they stand

divided they fall

their power is limitless

a force to be challenged

each bears a symbol

each plays a part

none are aware

Ka

Kaze

Mizu

Yami

Hikari

Chikyū."

_Volt fell silent, then turned and walked away. Runo stared after him in confusion before the door closed in front of her and she was forced to retreat into her room._

"Spectra, you saved me?" Dan asked. Spectra looked back at him, resting his elbow on his knee. "Why?"

"Don't be stupid. If he let you die we wouldn't know who the Ultimate Bakugan is now would we?" Helios asked. Dan blinked as Spectra got to his feet and Runo pulled away from him, sitting in the sand.

"Helios can we put that aside for now at least?" Spectra asked. Helios huffed and went to hover over Spectra's shoulder.

"What do you mean, "put it aside"?" Dan asked.

"I already told you," Mylene said. "We got transported here by accident. We can't get back to Vestal or New Vestroia unless we have help."

"What are you saying?" Runo asked, although she was pretty sure she knew what they were going to say.

"Wait a minute. Unless you have help...," Dan murmured. Lync and Shadow looked annoyed and Gus looked at Spectra. Dan blinked at them, staring in curiosity. Runo glanced at him, and then back at the Vexos. Lync groaned after a moment of silence.

"Yeah, we're asking you for help! Happy?" Dan and Runo exchanged startled glances, then stared at the Vexos.

"You're asking us... for help?" Runo blinked.

"I can't believe it," Drago whispered.

"Get over it already," Gus muttered. "We just need a Dimensional Transporter and then we can go to Vestal. And, if I'm correct, your friend's grandfather has a working transporter at their house in Russia."

"So what if she does? As far as you're concerned it's still broken," Dan said. "We got back last time by Apollonir helping." Runo blinked at him and then looked back at the Vexos. Spectra shrugged.

"I don't care what you do. Eventually they will come back for us anyway. However, while we are here I would appreciate it if you'd call me Keith. At least while I have my mask off. It's the least you can do after I just saved your life."

"Thanks, by the way," Dan mumbled, looking away.

"Hmph. Let's go, Keith," Mylene said, turning. They started to walk away and then Dan called after them.

"Uh... Well... since I'm in your debt, just give us a call if you need help," Dan said. The Vexos turned to stare at him, but not Spectra.

That was when Runo realized that they weren't wearing their normal clothes. Gus was wearing a brown tee shirt that had a picture of a palm tree on it. Mylene had a blue dress with no straps and Runo thought it safe to assume that it was a cover up for a bathing suit. Shadow had a purple shirt and black shorts while Volt wore a yellow tee and white swimming trunks. Lync had a green windbreaker tied around his waist and a green tee, as well as green and white swimming trunks.

"Like we'd ever need your help," Lync retorted.

"Whatever. The offers out there if you need it."

Keith smirked, then continued walking. The two of them continued to stare after the Vexos as they walked away, then Runo turned to Dan.

"I'm hungry," he said with a grin. "Can we get a pizza?"

"Uh Dan?" Runo asked.

"Mhm?"

"How much money do you have left?" She had an accusing glare on her face and Dan flinched.

"Uh..."

"Dan..." There was a warning in her voice. "If you tell me that I'm going to have to-"

"Geez Runo relax! I'll borrow some money from Marucho later. He'll probably send me a check or something," Dan said.

"Fine but if you do that, you have to pay him back. That's what borrow means after all. "Intending to pay back!" So in order to do that, you're going to work at my cafe until you earn back enough money." She was smirking.

"Ugh. Fine Runo," Dan muttered. He sighed.

"I think it's funny how you always listen to Runo," Drago laughed.

"Oh pipe down," Dan grumbled. "There is one thing that a brawler never does and that's disobey his girlfriend."

Dan sighed and turned, heading back toward where their towels were.

"I'm gonna get my phone and call for a pizza. With any luck they'll deliver it here," Dan said. "You want half pepperoni and half cheese?"

"That's good," Runo agreed. They were silent for a minute, going over the previous events in their minds.

"This is kinda weird, you know?" Runo said to Dan.

"Yeah. Why would Spectra save me?" he murmured.

"He said it's because of our fight with Helios but for some reason I don't think that's the real reason," Drago said.

"Perhaps they want you to be in their debt, Dan," Tigrerra suggested.

"He could demand for the Perfect Core energy," Drago agreed.

"But if that were the case wouldn't he have already done that? He would have taken the opportunity when I was weak and pinned me down or something," Dan said softly.

"That does sound like him. And he had all of the other Vexos with him. You didn't have your Gauntlet on you, Dan, and with the other Vexos he could have easily overpowered you," Drago said. "But the question is... why didn't he?" Runo sighed.

"Lets just forget it for now, Dan," she said. "We can think about it later. Lets just order pizza and you can try to appreciate your life before you risk it again. Which means that you are _not_ swimming again until tomorrow because I will personally kick you butt into next week for scaring me like that!"

"Okay okay I get it! No swimming until tomorrow!" Dan repeated, holding up his hands in surrender. "It's not like I'm in a hurry to go back into the water after that!"

"How much money do you have left, Dan?" Runo asked. Dan blinked and thought for a minute.

"Uh... I think maybe a hundred or so. We have the tickets for the plane ride back prepaid, courtesy of Marucho," Dan said. "And the hotel provides free food. We'll be okay until we get back. How much do you have left?"

"I think around 200," Runo said. "The dress cost me 200 and that bracelet I bought you—I'm not telling you the cost of that." Dan's face fell and Runo glared at him. He grinned and Runo rolled her eyes. "And then I bought some other things and I think I'm around 200, maybe 180. I'm still fine in terms of money."

"Does that mean that we can go wind surfing tomorrow?" Dan asked.

"How about we do something with all of us for a change?" Drago asked. "Besides, its supposed to be rainy tomorrow. How about we just go swimming in the hotel pool? That way we Bakugan will actually get something to do."

"Okay. Who's buying?" Dan asked, in reference to the pizza.

" Well, since you offered, you're buying," Runo said. Dan began to protest and Runo glared at him, but he looked past her and didn't see. Runo quickly ducked in front of him and hit him in the head, causing him to fall backward with a yell.

"Listen mister! _You_ offered. _You're_ paying! Comprendes?"

"Yeah yeah," Dan muttered, rubbing his head.

By now they had reached the spot where they set up and Dan reached into his swim bag, pulling out his cell phone. The time read 4:30. It was the perfect time to get a pizza. He quickly dialed the number and held the phone to his ear. Runo sat down in the sand and wrapped her towel around her, shivering.

"Yeah, hi, can I have one large pizza half pepperoni and half cheese, and can you deliver them to the beach?" Dan paused. "No? Okay then. I'll come by and pick them up in 20 minutes. How much will that cost?" He paused again. "Okay, 30 minutes. Okay. Wait who is this? My name is Dan Kuso-AGH! Julie! Don't scream in my ear!"

"What the...?" Runo asked. "Did he just say Julie?"

"What would Julie be doing here?" Tigrerra asked.

"Oh. Sorry miss! I thought you sounded like a friend of mine, my apologies. Yeah I'll come pick it up in a half hour bye!" Dan shouted hurriedly, then quickly pressed the "End Call" button and chucked the phone onto the towel. He groaned. "How was I supposed to know that her name was Jessica?"

"What just happened?" Drago asked.

"I bet one of his fans happened to work at that pizza restaurant," Runo grumbled. Dan looked at her and took an involuntary step back. She blinked as his movement and he stared at her, then took another step back.

"DAN!" Runo shouted. She jumped toward him but he ran out of the way at the last second, prompting her to chase him down the beach. "Dan I am going to get you!"

"Good luck with that!" he called.

"They never change," Drago said to Tigrerra.

"For some reason I thought that Dan would be a bit more...mellow, after he nearly died," Tigrerra mused.

"Well he's been in those kind of situations lots of times before," Drago said. "Remember how we fought Centorior and Druman?"

"Or how about when Dan jumped on Naga's foot like that?" Tigrerra agreed.

"Yeah. He's risked his life a lot for the sake of what's right. This is the first time he's risked it by accident," Drago murmured. "He really should spend some time appreciating it."

"You're right," Tigerra said.

"Agh Runo I've had enough of the salt water!" Dan protested when she splashed him. "Speaking of I'd like to get a drink. Salt water does not taste good when it has gone up your nose."

"Ew," Runo made a face. He grinned and walked back up the beach, sitting down on a towel. He rummaged through his bag and pulled out a water bottle, opened it and swallowed a few mouthfuls.

"Ahh... so much better than the salt water," Dan grinned. Runo rolled her eyes at Dan but smiles.

"I'm just glad that you're not lying dead on the ocean floor," Runo grinned.

"I think that you've been hanging around Shun to much," Drago said to Runo.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Runo asked. They all laughed and Dan stood up. Runo got up, too, and tucked the sunscreen and the towel on the ground into her bag after shaking out the sand. The two began to pack up, Runo leaving a towel draped over her shoulders and holding her duffel bag in her hand. Dan threw his shirt on and took another gulp of water from the water bottle, draping his towel over his shoulders.

"Let's go pick up that pizza," Dan said.

"Sounds good," Runo agreed. Tigrerra rested on Runo's shoulder, as Drago did with Dan's shoulder. The two began their trek across the sands, both of them loosing their balance form time to time. Soon they were panting, Dan more than Runo, which she noticed. "Dan do you want to rest?" she asked.

"Nah, don't worry, Runo, I'll be fine," he responded. Runo looked at him sadly. _Gee it looks like almost drowning took more out of him than he wants to admit_, she thought. _But I guess I can't really blame him_.

"What's wrong, Runo?" Tigrerra asked.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing," she assured Tigrerra.

"If you say so." After a few more minutes they reached the sidewalk and they stumbled onto it, unused to the even terrain. Runo could feel her muscles aching and sighed, but Dan didn't seem to bothered. He was just panting really hard. _We should go back to the hotel to eat the pizza_, Runo decided.

"Hey Dan, we'll go back to the hotel to eat, okay?" she said.

"Why can't we eat on the beach?" Dan asked.

"You're too tired, for one thing. You should eat dinner, take a shower, and then go to sleep. You're gonna need it if the Vexos come calling, even though they said they wouldn't," Runo said.

"Huh? When did they say that?" Dan asked. Runo blinked.

"Well, seeing as they didn't attack you before, or when we first ran into them, I would assume that they aren't going to go looking for a fight now," Drago suggested.

"Hm. I guess you're right," Dan said. "But if that's the case why would I need sleep?"

"Ugh, you idiot. You nearly drowned! I just think it would be a good idea for you to get some sleep, that's all!" Runo snapped. "And if you don't I'll hit you with more than just my fists!"

"Your fists probably couldn't hurt me anyway..." Dan muttered.

"What was that?" Runo yelled.

"Nothing! Fine I'll get some sleep."

"Thank you!"

"Tsk. Its weird how he's so... tame around her," Lync muttered. "Normally he's yelling and not cooperating or blabbing on about friendship and all that junk." He was sitting in a tree and speaking into an earpiece. Spectra had assigned him to spying on Dan and Runo, and he had just climbed a tree near the end of the beach and watched them. He'd just follow them and listen in on their conversations and then he'd return to Spectra.

"_Are they saying anything of an particular importance?_" Spectra asked.

"No, oh great Spectra," Lync smirked. "They're just walking and arguing."

"_Well stay on them in case something important comes up_," Spectra said. "_When they get back to their hotel you can come back, okay?_"

"Sure," Lync said. Runo and Dan continued to walk and with a little "beep" Spectra had closed communication between the two of them. Lync's lip curled and he sighed, jumping out of the tree, startling some tourists in the process and catching the eye of a passing police officer.

"Hey kid," he called, walking over.

"Uh oh," Lync muttered, turning and running.

"Hey wait!"

"Dang it!" Lync grumbled, ducking through the crowd. He couldn't let the officer catch him, and he couldn't let Dan and Runo see him. Well this would be interesting.

Just as he caught sight of a blue line by his side, he felt his feet slip. With a yelp he went down, his hands skidding along the pavement. A sharp sting sliced through them and he grimaced, making his hands fists. He started to get to his feet when two voices cut through the air at the same time.

"Lync?" He grimaced again and groaned, bracing his foot against the ground and starting to run again.

"Hey kid, stop!" He gasped as the police officer's hand clamped down on his shoulder. He jumped and looked up, annoyed. Dan groaned.

"If he's not careful he's gonna get himself found out," Dan muttered.

"That won't do us very much good," Runo said softly.

"What did you do now Lync?" Dan asked with a sigh, walking over. Lync looked at him angrilly.

"I can handle this without you butting your nose in, Dan," Lync snapped.

"Didn't Mom tell you to stay away from trouble?" Dan continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. Lync stared at him.

"Huh?" Runo blinked. Lync looked just as confused. Drago and Tigrerra had enough sense to remain silent.

"You know this kid?" the officer asked, looking accusingly at Dan. Dan nodded.

"Yeah, he's my little brother."

"He sure doesn't look like you."

"My mom remarried. He's my step brother," Dan said.

"What is he doing?" Runo asked Tigrerra. She was silent.

"Well, maybe your mother would be interested in learning that he was climbing trees again," the police officer said. Dan blinked at Lync, who was staring at him. "I've already told him once that if I caught him again he'd be coming with me."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure he won't do it again. I'll take him home now," Dan said.

"I never said you could take him home, son," the officer said. "I let him off with a warning last time and he knew full well that if I caught him again he'd be coming with me down to the station." Lync shot a begging look at Dan, putting aside their differences. Dan looked at him and then back at the officer.

"Please sir, I'm sure that him having to tell our mother that he's got a criminal record will be punishment enough," Runo intervened. "Trust me, she's gonna be mad. Grounded for a month or two and having to do all the chores for two weeks. I think that he'll be fine."

"I already told you, he's not going home with you right now," the officer said.

"I didn't want to do this but I've got no choice," Runo muttered. She stared into his eyes and he looked at hers, then a daydreaming look came over his face. He let go of Lync's arm and appeared to be half asleep. Dan and Lync stared at Runo, who's eyes were glowing gold. "You're going to go back to whatever you were doing before you ran into Lync. You're going to forget all about us and not mention anything about us to anyone."

"Right," the officer said, turning and walking away. Runo's eyes stopped glowing and she blinked, then turned back to Dan and Lync, who were staring at her open-mouthed.

"How did you learn how to do that?" Drago asked.

"That was most impressive, my lady," Tigrerra said. Runo shrugged, then looked at Lync, who had crossed his arms and looked smug.

"I could have gotten out of that myself, you know," he said. "I didn't need_ your _help."

"Oh come on," Dan groaned. "We all know that's not true. Just stop with the tough guy act and tell us what the heck you did?"

"I don't need to answer to you," Lync snapped.

"It would be nice after they just saved your skin," Tigrerra muttered.

"Who asked you?" Lync shouted.

"Whatever," Dan said. "We came here for a vacation and that isn't exactly what we're getting. What were you doing around here without the others anyway?"

"Careful Dan. He could be a spy," Drago warned. Dan nodded and continued to glare at Lync. Runo crossed her arms and sighed.

"Dan it's not worth it. Come on, let's get that pizza and go back to the hotel," she said. Dan was silent, still looking at Lync. Lync glared at him and then turned.

"Whatever. See you, loosers."

"Hey you can call us whatever name you want it won't bother us!" Dan called as Lync walked away. Lync made a face and continued to walk away.

"Well that was ineresting," Tigrerra commented.

"Ugh, why can't they leave us alone!" Runo demanded. "I just wanna relax. I don't wanna worry about them showing up and kidnapping me!"

"Don't worry Runo. They won't get you a second time," Dan said, glaring at the Lync's back. Once he made sure the pink haired boy was out of earshot, he turned to Runo. "Did you notice the earpiece he was wearing?"

"He was wearing an earpiece?" Drago asked. Runo stared at Dan.

"Yeah, he was wearing a white ear bud thing. I bet he was talking to Spectra or something and was sent to spy on us," Dan said hurriedly.

"That's not good," Runo murmured.

"You bet it's not," Tigrerra agreed.

"Anyway, I think that we should grab the pizza and then duck into an alley or something," Dan said. "Then we can fly back."

"In broad daylight? Dan, even you know that's not a good idea. I can transport us back," Runo decided. "But we should duck into an alley to do that."

"Yeah," Dan said. The two started walking again and were silent for a minute."Hey, Runo?"

"Yeah?" she asked.

"I need you to use your power over light to go invisible."

"Invisible?" Runo asked. "You mean make it so that my body refracts light in way-"

"Have you been hanging around Marucho again?" Dan asked.

"Yes why?"

"Please don't use words I can't understand."

"Fine. But why?"

"I need you to see if Lync is still following us," Dan murmured.

"Oh give it a rest, Dan," Runo smiled. "He probably isn't."

"Please?"

"Fine..." She looked around and then sighed, ducking around the side of a building. Dan kept walking while Runo allowed her wings to materialize, and a tingly sensation came over her body. She glanced at her back, satisfied that her wings were invisible. Tigrerra was clasped in her hand and she jumped into the air, floating above the street. She noticed Dan look up and she turned away from him, searching the street for a familiar pink haired figure. Sure enough, he was standing with his back to the edge of a building, his head searching the sky. He must have heard them talking.

Runo glared at him and opened her hand, looking at Tigrerra. "Should we go after him?" she asked.

"How about you ask Dan first?" Tigrerra suggested.

"Okay," Runo said after Tigrerra didn't acknowledge her nod. Runo dove down, shooting over to Dan and hovering so that her head was over his shoulder.

"Dan," she whispered.

"Yeah Runo?" he asked.

"The little rat is following us," she said. "You were right. What do you want me to do?"

"How about you give him a little scare?" Runo grinned.

"It would be my pleasure." She shot back up and arched her back, floating back toward Lync. She landed silently behind him as he ducked his head around the corner, undoubtedly searching for her and Dan.

"Looking for something?" Runo asked, becoming visible again. Her wings vanished and she was staring at Lync. He gasped, whirling around, accidentally whacking her in the face. She gasped, stumbling back.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Geez, apology not accepted," Runo grumbled. "Be thankful Dan didn't see that. Why are you following us?"

"That's none of your business," Lync snapped.

"Well since you're following us I think it kinda is!" Runo shouted.

"Back off!"

"Make me!"

"I can!"

"Wanna bet?" Lync stared at her and she grinned. "That's what I thought. You don't mess with the girl that has powers."

"Shut up," Lync muttered. Runo rolled her eyes.

"Go back to your teammates already. I just wanna enjoy my vacation here in paradise. Okay?" He sneered and she leaned in toward him. "If we catch you following us again I'm going to toss you in the ocean."

"Does it look like I care?" He glared at her and she rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Just leave us alone." She ran around the corner and back to Dan, leaving Lync standing there, seething.

"He's annoying," Runo grumbled.

"What did he say?" Dan asked her. Runo sighed.

"He accidentally hit me in the face when he turned around and then we had a shouting match," Runo reported. "He didn't tell me anything, but when I asked why he was following us he said it was none of our business, so that tells me he _was_ following us."

"That weasel," Dan muttered. Then he blinked and looked at the building next to them. "Oh wait, this is the pizza place."

"Good, then we can get back to the hotel," Runo said. The two of them headed up the steps of the restaurant and Dan pulled open the door for Runo, who grinned her thanks as the door closed.

"_So they saw you_," Spectra said.

"Yeah. They saw me. They intervened when some guy in uniform chased me and he walked away after 'Whiny Girl' did something to him," Lync grumbled. "And then she found out I was following them. Who knows how that happened."

"_Whatever, it doesn't really matter anyway. I'll take a look around tonight. You can come back now, Lync_," Spectra said, the connection closing with a beep. Lync made a face and angrily turned around, heading back for their hideout.

"Just you wait, Brawlers. Soon you'll regret resisting us on New Vestroia," Lync vowed. "And Prince Hydron, soon you'll have your victory."

"**Oooh Lync's a traitor!" Breezyfeather sings. "Lync's a traitor Lync's a traitor Lync's a TRAItor..."**

"**Will someone shut her up?" Lync groans.**

"**Well why are you surprised? You always call him a mercenary," Shun says.**

"**Hey!"**

"**Sorry but it's true," Breezyfeather says. Lync crosses his arms and pouts.**

"**Hey, be thankful she doesn't chain you to the ceiling," Dan calls from where he is dangling upside down from the ceiling. "Which reminds me. ARE YOU GOING TO LET ME DOWN YET?"**

"**Sure." Dan drops from the ceiling and lands on his back.**

"**OW!"**

"**Sorry."**

"**No you're not!"**

"**True."**

**Whoa 9 pages!**

**While Dan is being mad, please hit the button below.**

**Come on, please?**


	3. Oh Geez

"**And now for chapter 3. This is where the title comes into play," Breezyfeather says.**

"**Searching for Spectra?" Keith asks. "Speaking of, I thought I told you-"**

"**Yeah, yeah.**

"**Anyway, does that mean I go missing?"**

"**Well... I'm not sure if "missing" is the correct way to put it," Breezyfeather mumbles.**

"**What was that?"**

"**Uh, nothing!"**

"**Just so you know, she said that missing wasn't the correct term," Fabia says.**

"**So... if that's not it... then I get kidnapped?"**

"**Something like that..."**

"**Worse or better?"**

"**I think that's enough questions!"**

"**How come he doesn't freak on her?" Dan asks Shun.**

"**Because he is more mature than you are," Shun says, then vanishes.**

"**Well I guess you're right... wait WHAT!"**

**Let's read on!**

Runo was taking a shower when she heard a loud bang. She blinked in surprise and called out, "Dan? Was that you?" No answer. Runo poked her head out of the shower and looked at Tigrerra, who seemed just as confused as she was. "Do you know what that was?" she asked.

"No, my lady," Tigrerra said. "Should I go and check?"

"How about we both go?" Runo asked as she turned off the water, and then grabbed a towel. She wrapped it around her body after drying off a little and then opened the bathroom door slowly and silently, poking her head out. She blinked in surprise, finding Dan sitting on the ground with a frying pan in his hand and red mark on his head. There was a bug flying around the room and Runo ducked as it shot towards her, hitting the wall.

"What the heck?" Runo asked. Tigrerra looked around, speechless. "Dan! What the heck is going on?"

"The bug that came in- that's one of Gus's hornets," Drago explained hurriedly. "It just shot in here. It's not giving the hologram that it usually does."

"What are you talking about?" Runo asked.

"I'll explain later. Anyway, when it flew at him, Dan tried to hit it with the frying pan and then it flew at him from the side so I hit him in the head to get him out of the way," Drago said.

"That hurt Drago!" Dan complained. Then, he caught sight of Runo and his face turned red. Runo stared at him and realized what she was wearing and shrieked, ducking back into the bathroom. She slammed the door shut and stood with her back pressed to it, breathing hard with a red face.

"What's wrong, Runo?" Tigrerra asked. Runo stared at her.

"Well he just saw me wearing nothing but a towel!"

"I don't see how that is much of a problem," Tigrerra said. Runo continued to stare at her, then tossed the towel to the side, catching Tigrerra in it, and then hurriedly threw on some clothes. By the time Tigrerra got free, (with a lot of shouting I might add) Runo was yanking a brush through her long blue hair.

"What was that for?" Tigrerra demanded.

"I'll explain to you about that later," Runo said. She was wearing a yellow belly shirt and short orange shorts. Her hair she left down as she opened the door, stumbling back when the bug shot into the room. Thinking fast, she dove out of the doorway and slammed the door shut, trapping the bug inside. She whirled around, catching sight of Dan standing behind her with the frying pan raised above his shoulder like a baseball bat. He and Runo locked gazes for a moment and then Runo screamed, making Dan yell and jump back.

"What the heck Dan!" Runo shouted.

"Ow do you have to be so loud?"

"You're one to talk! What was that bang I heard?" Runo asked.

"That was his head hitting the wall," Drago said with a hint of amusement in his voice. Runo sighed.

"What the heck was with the frying pan?"

"I thought it would be more effected against a mechanical but than a flyswatter. Besides I didn't see a flyswatter around here so I grabbed the big metal flyswatter."

"So... what do we do with that thing?" Runo asked in reference to the fly. She cocked her head toward the bathroom as they heard an annoying tapping noise.

"It wants out. Maybe it'll behave this time," Dan muttered. He picked up the frying pan and held it up in a threatening position. Runo rolled her eyes at him and went to open the door. "Hey! I'll do it, don't worry about it." Runo blinked at him and stood to the side of the door, knowing better than to argue with him while he had a weapon even though she knew he would never hit her with it.

He walked up to the door with a determined look on his face, glaring at the knob. He stared at it for a minute and Runo watched Drago whisper something in his ear. Dan responded too softly for her to hear, and then he snatched the doorknob. He turned it and yanked the door open. Dan stood there for a moment after nothing leaped out at him, then he blinked and lowered the weapon. He and Drago exchanged glances and he took a step into the bathroom. After a brief glance around the room, he looked back at Runo and shrugged. Runo glanced at Tigrerra and walked forward, peering into the bathroom that was still warm from her shower.

"Where did it go?" she asked.

"I dunno. It could be anywhere in here," Dan said. "So where-ah!" The mechanical hornet shot out of a corner and over their heads, into the main room of the suite. The two turned quickly and Dan raised the frying pan, then the two of them gasped as a hologram of Gus appeared.

"Gus!" Dan gasped. Dan hadn't lowered the pan and when Gus caught sight of it he shot Dan a look, probably thinking, _okay, what is he doing with a metal pan?_ Dan blinked, looked at the pan, then tossed it on the couch. Gus shook his head.

"Yes Human. I'm not even going to ask about the pan."

"Smart move," Runo muttered.

"What do you want, Gus?" Dan demanded. "If Spectra wants a battle I already told you-"

"No, it's not a challenge, Dan," Gus snapped. Dan blinked and was silent, then Gus sighed. "I decided I'd bother you this morning because... well... Master Spectra is missing."

"Huh?" Dan asked.

"What are you talking about?" Drago asked.

"What do you mean, 'missing'?" Runo asked.

"Would you care to let me finish?" Gus asked, mildly annoyed. The brawlers fell silent and Gus continued. "Last night Master Spectra went to sp-I mean, to take a walk. He never came back, and none of us can figure out where he went."

"That's strange," Tigrerra murmured.

"Why are you coming to us for help?" Dan asked, cutting straight to the point. Runo looked at him. "As far as I know, you wouldn't come to us for help unless it was something really important."

"That is true, Dan Kuso," Gus said. "But as I recall, Master Spectra helped you yesterday without any request." Dan gasped and stared at Gus, who continued to speak. "If you want to learn more about this, you can follow my little spy. It'll lead you straight to me, and you won't have to worry about it being a trap. All of us know that you'll come, and all of us know not to attack you if you do. We'll be waiting." The hologram vanished and the hornet hovered there. Runo walked forward and snatched it out of the air, then turned to Dan.

"Dan?" she asked. He sighed. "What are you thinking about?" He was silent for a minute, then he looked up at her.

She blinked at the change in him. His eyes were fixed, his eyebrows creased slightly. Runo realized that even though his eyes were narrowed and his mouth was set in a straight line, he didn't look angry. Far from it. It was like he was... perplexed. He seemed a little confused, but determined. He wasn't angry and he wasn't upset. Runo remembered when she had last seen that look in his eyes. Back when they had faced Naga, Centouriour and Druman, he had had that spark of courage. When they battle Masquerade before they were sent to the Doom Dimension. When she had sneaked a glance at him in the Doom Dimension, when they were receiving their assignments. And after their battles in Vestroia, when Alice had appeared, Dan had had that air of determination and courage. He had shown his maturity. She had also seen it when he had to fight Drago and throw Apollonir into the diamond on his chest. He was determined and prepared to endure trial and error when he got that look in his eyes. Runo admired this change in him. It was like he was a grown man faced with this decision. He never showed it otherwise, so when he revealed it, Runo knew that he wouldn't back down from any challenge that rose against him.

"We're going to help them out. It's the least I can do after he saved my life. If he really is in trouble, then he'll need all the help he can get," Dan decided. Runo stared at him, then closed her eyes. "You don't have to come with me if you don't want to, Runo. I know, after he kidnapped you, that you probably won't want to come. You probably don't think he deserves it."

"You idiot," Runo muttered. She had lowered her head and her bangs covered her eyes. Dan blinked at her, wondering what he had said. "You're crazy."

"What?" Dan asked.

"If you think that I'm just going to sit here... like some cowardly kid," Runo whispered. "You're wrong. I'm going to help, whether you like it or not." She looked up at him. Dan was staring at her. Runo could feel her cheeks heating up as she stared into his eyes. His red eyes, framed by his tan skin. His cheeks were sunburned and he hadn't brushed his hair yet. Wait. Where is cheeks really sunburned? The red was intensifying.

Runo realized that Dan was blushing, and her cheeks got steadily warmer as well. The two blinked at the same time and the moment was over, causing both of them to turn away silently. Runo had her hand over her heart, which was pounding. What just happened?

Runo ducked back into the bathroom and grabbed her brush, yanking it through her still wet hair. Dan blinked, then remembered that he wasn't wearing his Resistance uniform, which he decided might be a good idea for this mission. After all, whenever he got involved with the Vexos, he should be prepared for a battle and his Resistance uniform would stand up to the winds and fire than his tourist outfits. He walked back to his room and threw on his clothes, then yanked it through his tangled hair, and placed his sunglasses there. On his way out, he grabbed his Gauntlet.

"Runo, you ready?" Dan called.

"Just a sec," she called back. She took one of her usual hair ties and tied her hair back in a pony tail, simply because her hair would hang limp if she it in her usual pigtails. She came out of the bathroom and Dan blinked at her choice in hairstyle. "I'm afraid of loosing the ones that you gave me, Dan," Runo said. She wasn't wearing her bracelet either. "I'd wear them if I knew for sure that we weren't going to end up battling. I don't wanna risk it."

"No worries, Runo," Dan said. "Heads up." He picked up her Gauntlet from the couch and tossed it to her. She caught it with ease and nodded at Dan. Tigrerra and Drago held on to their Brawlers' shoulders as they walked out of the room, Runo tucking the card key into her pocket. The two of them hurried down the side staircase of the hotel and out the door, then ducked behind the building. Runo opened her hand and let the creature fly free.

"Okay, where's Gus?" Dan asked. The creature hovered for a second, then shot up into the air. "You know I really hate it when it does that," Dan muttered. "Just give us the coordinates!" He sighed, making his wings appear.

"Dan," Drago cautioned. "Are you sure that's wise?"

"What do you mean?" Dan asked.

"What if the townspeople see us?" Runo asked worriedly. Dan bit his lip, then blinked in surprise and grinned. He held up a card and Runo shook her head firmly. "No."

"Come on, just by powering up our Gauntlets we'll be able to get there without anyone seeing!" Dan whined.

"He has a good point," Tigrerra said to Runo. Runo sighed, giving up.

"Fine." The two of them placed their cards in their Gauntlet's, then held them up. "Gauntlet, Power Strike!" Everything began to slow down, then came to a stop. Runo and Dan looked at each other, then Runo had her wings appear. They both jumped up into the air, meeting up with the Hornet almost instantly. It continued to fly to the west, then dipped down, surprising both kids. They grabbed hold of their Bakugan, then shot down to the ground, following the hornet. The brown dirt rushed up and Dan and Runo pulled out of their dives, catching sight of an abandoned house. The hornet vanished inside of it, leaving Dan and Runo to find an alternate route inside.

"I'm guessing they're in there," Tigrerra said. Runo glanced around, noting that no one was nearby.

"Let's power down the Gauntlet's and land," Runo said. "Maybe we won't terrify them."

"Good plan," Dan said. The two pressed the button on the tip of the Gauntlet.

"Battle System offline, battle terminated," the Gauntlet droned, spitting out the card. Time started again and the two kids descended slowly, landing on their feet on the ground. Their wings vanished into the air and they exchanged glances. The hornet had gone into the building through an open window, which could be more accurately described as a window with a huge chunk of glass missing.

There were gray cement stairs leading up to a blue door with rusted hinges. The building itself was painted dark blue, with two windows facing out like eyes. It was one floor, and rusting railings led up the stone staircase. Wind chimes were hanging from a gutter, but only two of the metal pieces remained attached to the string. The rest of them lay in the dirt, rusting like the rest of the metal in the area.

"Does anyone else think this is depressing?" Drago asked.

"I'm with you on that one, pal," Dan said quietly. He took a few steps toward the building, his shoes crunching on the hard packed dirt. "I don't like this place."

"Now what?" Runo asked.

"We find a way in," Dan said. He stepped up the cement steps and placed a hand on the (also) rusting handle of the door, struggling to press down the tip that would allow them to enter. After a minute, it went down, allowing Dan to pull it open. Runo stepped up behind him as he glanced around the seemingly abandoned home. Inside, they could see a hallway, but it was dark, so they couldn't make much out. Dan took a step inside, then another, while murmuring to Runo to stay close to him. Runo made a nervous noise that meant, "yes", and they continued inside. Several rooms branched off the sides of the hallway, and they must have alerted someone in one of them because they heard a creak of a floorboard behind them.

"Hey Gus, they're here!" Runo and Dan jumped at the sudden yell, and it was a minute before they realized it belong to Shadow. "Hey Brawlers," he smirked as they turned to look at him. Runo blinked at him, remaining close to Dan.

"You made it," Gus said, coming around a corner.

"Yeah," Dan said. "So, uh, what happened?"

"Oh _they're_ here," Lync grumbled.

"Lync," Runo said with a nod. He curled his lip and her and crossed his arms, turning back into the room he had come out of. He was wearing his cape, as Gus was wearing his coat and Mylene, as she came around the corner, was wearing her usual outfit. Shadow, on the other hand, had on a purple shirt with the outline of white wings branching off of a skull and black sweats, and his usual vest except the armor was missing.

"Come on, we'll explain to you in the kitchen," Gus said, turning back into the room he had come out of. Runo and Dan exchanged glances, then followed him. Mylene and Shadow also tagged along, prompting Runo to wonder where Volt had gone.

"Volt went out on a walk earlier," Mylene muttered. "He said he was going to think. But anyway, Spectra is missing. So we figured that, since you're in his debt, this might be your opportunity to repay him."

"It's better than giving him the Perfect Core energy," Drago said. Elico appeared on Mylene's shoulder and Vulcan on Gus's.

"Don't think that this changes anything," Elico said. "We're still enemies, even if we're cooperating right now."

"Well, if we're going to cooperate, how about we do it without fighting with each other?" Runo said. They all looked at her and she met Gus's gaze fearlessly. He sighed.

"Whatever," Shadow rolled his eyes.

"Fine," Mylene said.

"So what happened exactly?" Dan asked. "Did he just up and disappear?"

"No," Gus said. "It's like I told you: Master Spectra went out last night and didn't come back. I have no idea why. At first I thought that maybe you two had done something, like challenged him to a brawl and beat him, but I realized that after he saved your life you probably wouldn't do that. Plus you're not really aggressive anyway."

"Thanks, I think?" Dan said.

"So I talked it over with the others, well not Volt since he left, and we agreed that you guys would probably be a good help," Gus said. He was looking away, sitting on the counter. Runo and Dan were standing in the middle of the old patchwork kitchen, while Shadow hung upside-down from the counter and Mylene stood with her arms crossed near the doorway.

"So what do you want us to do?" Runo asked.

"Well, I guess all I can really ask of you right now is to walk around and keep an eye out, maybe fly around and get a perspective from the air," Gus said.

"During the day that wouldn't be a good idea. During the night maybe, and of course we could always call Shun and Marucho," Runo said.

"Why Shun and Marucho?" Mylene asked.

"Well in case you hadn't noticed, Shun is a ninja," Dan said, holding up a finger and grinning.

"Marucho could check databases and maybe put out "Missing" notices," Runo explained.

"Fine but don't get in touch with the others," Gus said.

"You mean Julie and Alice?" Runo asked. She glared at him. "Look, I am not going to leave them out of this again. We were all really ticked off when Dan left for New Vestroia on his own and left us there to worry. I am _not_ leaving my best friends out of this!"

"Okay okay, chill already," Shadow groaned. He sat up, looking over his shoulder with a grin. Runo stared at him. "If you ask me, we could use all the help we can get."

"Fine then, call your friends. The more area we can cover the better," Mylene said, turning and walking out of the kitchen. "I'll get Lync on scouting duty."

"Dan, you can call them using this," Gus told Dan, tossing him one of the Vestal pieces of technology. Dan caught it, pressing the button. He was used to using this to contact people, or to find maps of certain places. He punched in Shun's user-name on their chatting website created by Joe, then hit the button again. A picture of Shun's face showed up on the screen, his emotions masked like usual.

"Hey Shun," Dan said.

"Hi Dan, what are you doing online?" he asked, cutting straight to the point. Dan rubbed the back of his neck with a nervous grin on his face.

"Uh, about that..."

"I'm listening," Shun said, narrowing his eyes. Shadow rolled his eyes while Gus sighed.

After Dan explained everything to Shun, the black haired ninja had dropped his emotionless mask. "Dan, are you sure this is a good idea?" he asked.

"Listen, ninja boy," Shadow snapped. Shun jumped and Runo groaned, placing her hand on her forehead. "They already agreed to help. The decision is yours now."

"You could have told me that he was in the room," Shun glared at Dan.

"Sorry," Dan said. "Look, can you tell the others for me? Marucho and Alice and Julie?"

"I know who the others are, Dan," Shun said. "And yeah. I'll have Marucho get us some passports and we'll be in Hawaii by tonight. Alice maybe before then if she uses her transporter card. Man, I'm gonna be waking her up really early..."

"Okay Shun," Dan grinned. "Thanks!"

"Don't mention it," Shun said. He signed off and Dan pressed the button on the triangle-shaped device, causing the floating screen to vanish. He looked up and tossed it to Gus, who caught it easily.

"Okay, he knows, and I think you gave him a heart attack,"Gus said to Shadow. He shrugged, jumping off the counter and walking out of the room. "As for you two, maybe you could go take a walk on the beach or something. Just keep your eyes peeled until night."

"Sure thing, dude," Dan said, grinning Runo rolled her eyes at him and grabbed him by the jacket collar.

"I'll look some stuff up on the internet back at the hotel. Marucho will probably call us soon anyway. As for you, Dan," Runo muttered, pulling him out of the room. "Gus we'll go out later. I'll make sure we get some sleep before then."

"Whatever," Lync muttered from where he was leaning with his shoulder on the hallway wall, facing the kitchen door.

"Eavesdropping I see," Volt commented, walking up behind him. Lync jumped, not having not heard him come in.

"Volt!" Lync looked guilty while Dan nodded at the taller Haos brawler.

"Uh, hi," Runo said. He met her nervous gaze with a level one and acknowledged her with a nod.

"Thank you," he said. Runo was once again reminded on the prophecy he had relayed to her and she wondered how he had come across it in the first place.

"Uh, right... um, how did you come across that poem you told me?"

"I'm afraid I'm not quite sure what you're talking about," Volt said, looking away and walking past Lync. Runo and Dan moved to the side to let him enter the kitchen.

"What are you talking about?" Dan asked Runo. She shook her head.

"It doesn't matter, really. Come on, let's get back to the hotel," she said, holding his wrist and concentrating, then teleporting both of them back to the hotel.

**On to Spectra/Keith's PoV. Maybe this will clear a few things up.**

Keith lay on his back on the cot, his arms cushioning his head and one knee bent so that it was in the air. He stared at the plain white ceiling, a tirade of emotions hammering him from all sides, but his practice at hiding his emotions had paid off, and he appeared to merely be pondering whether he should sit up or not. The harsh electric lights cast a bright, artificial glow all around the cement room, shining out through the metal bars that made up one wall.

Keith knew he was a prisoner. He had known from the second he had fallen to that guard, after the guard had tazed him with something similar to the rod with the glowing rings that Gus had almost hit Runo with. Helios had stayed with him, keeping a low profile and hiding when Keith had been searched. He had been wearing a pair of khaki cut off shorts and a red tee shirt, both of which had been removed while they inspected him. They returned them to him after they were satisfied that he wasn't carrying any weapons and asked what the Vestal communicator shaped like a triangle was. Keith had lied and said that it was his cousin's toy, and they had placed it in a locker with a lock on it. This had all happened before they moved him from Hawaii to California, since all of their holding facilities were currently filled and they couldn't get a hold of his parents or legal guardian.

Keith sat up, his hair sticking up at odd angles since he hadn't been given a comb- or anything similar- to brush it. He looked around the plain prison cell, then sighed and glanced at the marble sitting on the cot(which was bolted to the floor) next to him. "Helios," he whispered. The Bakugan popped out of his ball, looking up at Keith.

"What is it, Keith?" he asked.

"Do you think we'll be able to get out of this?" Spectra murmured, reaching under the Bakugan and lifting him so that he was level with his face.

"I'm not sure, Keith," he admitted. "There are too many guards. We won't be able to get out without help."

"We have to get out fast," Keith sighed. "They took my blood." That was the most troubling. Surely, after a DNA analysis, they would discover that Keith was not a human. Then, he would be carted off somewhere to be probed and prodded because he would be assumed to be an alien and therefore a mindless, psychotic killer intent on destroying Earth. How wrong humans were to stereotype extraterrestrials. The only group of people Keith was intent on destroying was the Brawlers, and he had an elaborate plan worked out to do just that. However, all of those plans would be ruined if he couldn't get out of this prison cell and miles away from this prison.

"They'll be finished analyzing it soon you know," Helios said to him.

"I doubt it. Their technology is far less advanced than ours is," Keith replied. "They might have noticed that something is strange about it, but they won't come to me for answers for a while."

"I hope that you're right, Keith," Helios said.

"My my, it's been a while, hasn't it, Keith?" Keith looked up at the voice, masking his emotions with ease. The surprise he felt at the face suspended before him was hidden as it registered with his mind, and Keith was able to keep his face carefully guarded. He narrowed his eyes as a name rose up to match the face, and his hands curled into fists.

"Ren."

**Ah. sorry but I had to end it there. It was getting too long. Sorry about not updating. I would have updated earlier today, or even on Saturday, but I was busy and on Sunday I had a lot of homework to do, and then today, oh man, don't even get me started on the amount of homework my teachers gave me. Okay too late, I'm already started. They gave me WAY too much, and let's just leave it at that. This chapter is about 7 pages, so I'll leave you here and thank you for your reviews! See you whenever I update next, which will be sooner if you review!**

**Oh, and the word I was looking for at the beginning... yeah I'm pretty sure most of you know now, but I'll tell anyway. Arrested. Keith got arrested. For what? I'll reveal that next time!**

**Wow I feel like a television announcer... -.-**


	4. Explanations and where did Shun go?

"**And chapter 4! Thank you guys for your reviews! I really appreciate them!" Breezyfeather says happily. Shun grins and Dan lies, sleeping, on the couch. "When did he fall asleep?"**

"**A little while ago. Don't wake him up," Shun says.**

"**I'm not going to! I told you that I was going to be nice to you guys," Breezyfeather says.**

"**I'd love to see how long that lasts," Shadow laughs.**

"**Shut up," Breezyfeather snaps.**

"**Hey I thought you said you were gonna be nice," Shadow whines.**

"**I said I was gonna be nice to THEM. Well, those two and the girls... and maybe Ren... sorry but you don't fall into the category."**

"**Come on!"**

**What the heck? A few minutes ago when I thought about writing I actually got... scared. I have no idea why! That's just bizarre!**

**Let's go!**

"Hey, Dan!" Dan blinked, turning around. His face broke into a wide grin when he caught sight of his friends, and then he was smothered in a hug from Julie.

"Dan! I missed you!" she cried, smiling. Dan smiled.

"Hi guys!"

"Hi Dan," Marucho said with a smile.

"It's only been about a week, I don't think you need to suffocate him, Julie," Shun said with a grin.

"Julie?" Runo asked, coming around the corner of the hotel lobby. Upon catching sight of her best friend, a broad smile stretched across her face. "Julie! Alice! Shun, Marucho!" Runo gave Julie and Alice a hug and smiled at Shun and Marucho, who laughed.

"Ha, the gang's back together again!" Marucho smiled.

"You've got that right," Preyas chirruped. Dan smiled and then found that he earned himself a glare from the receptionist, who was reading a book. Dan sweat-dropped and smiled apologetically, then turned back to the others.

"Hey, how about we go up to our room and talk? It's a suite," Dan said.

"Sure, sound's good," Shun agreed. The others nodded, still smiling as Dan led them to the elevator. Drago had bounced over to Preyas, Ingram, Elfin, Gorem, Tigrerra and Hydranoid and was now sharing a conversation while floating in the air.

"Drago," Dan called, pressing the "up" button on the elevator. All of the Bakugan turned toward him, then shot back to their brawlers, resting on their shoulders. Dan smiled at Drago, who looked up at him. When they all got into the elevator and the doors had closed, Shun looked at Dan seriously.

"Okay, so tell us all the story from the beginning. I think it's worth hearing again."

"Yeah, Shun's right, Dan," Marucho said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I'd like to hear it all from you two."

"I'm kinda curious myself," Alice admitted.

"Yeah, spill the beans, girl!" Julie demanded of Runo. Runo and Dan exchanged glances.

"We'll tell you all back at the suite. If anyone hears us talking about it they'll think we've gone nuts," Dan decided. Runo nodded.

"Sounds good to me," Shun said.

"Okay then," Alice agreed.

"Fine," Julie sighed. Marucho nodded.

"Hey, Drago," Preyas said. Drago turned toward him attentively.

"Yes? What is it, Preyas?"

"Did you guys miss me when you were in New Vestroia?"

"That wasn't random at all," Gorem said.

"Hey, shut it!" Preyas cried, turning toward the Sub-Terra Golem-like Bakugan.

"Ha, they didn't even notice you were gone," Elfin said. "They were all too focused on me!"

"Pfft. As if! If they were paying attention to you, it was because all you do is yell and scream," Preyas fired back.

"Do not! Cheer leading is important to helping the Bakugan!" Elfin retorted, insulted.

"Yelling and screaming is important? When did that happen?"

"Actually Cheer leading is a sport!" Elfin pointed out.

"Since when?"

"Since-"

"Alright you two, that's enough!" Marucho decided. The two Bakugan turned away from each other.

"He started it," Elfin muttered as Preyas mumbled "She started it!" Marucho groaned.

"Wow, those two make the two of you look like arguing kindergarteners," Julie said to Dan and Runo. Runo and Dan blinked, then fired back at the same time.

"Hey! We don't argue that much!" Runo retorted.

"We don't fight anymore!" Dan shouted.

"Esh, you don't have to yell Dan," Runo complained, rubbing her ear.

"Sorry!" Dan grumbled.

"Say it like you mean it!"

"I don't have to!"

"It would be wise to and you know it, Dan," Drago said.

"Can it!" Runo and Dan both shouted.

"And you said the two of you don't fight," Gorem said. The two were about to turn on him when the elevator dinged, signaling that they had reached their floor. Marucho sighed in relief and made a beeline for the doors, hurrying through them with ease. Dan and Runo crossed their arms and walked out next, then Shun and Alice, and finally Julie.

After Runo and Dan let them into their suite, they flopped down on the couch. Shun had already found a way to disappear and none of the Brawlers knew where he had gone, Alice took a seat on the chair in the corner of the room while Julie sat down next to Runo, smiling. Marucho decided he'd sit on the ground, looking up at Dan.

"Where did Shun go?" Dan asked.

"I'm right in front of you," Shun grinned, appearing in front of Dan. Dan yelled in surprise, leaning back. The Brawlers laughed at Shun's trick, and then Shun took a seat on the armrest of Alice's chair. He crossed a leg over his other one, then looked at Dan expectantly. The rest of them stopped laughing and looked at Dan and Runo, who glanced at each other.

"Uh, okay, so this was basically how things went," Runo said. "We were walking to a surf shop because Dan decided he wanted to try surfing. Apparently the shop owner had rented out his last board a little while before we got there to a kid with a mask, and he was with a group of six kids. As you can imagine, we suspected it was Spectra, but then when we were leaving he heard Dan say my name and told us that the group had been talking about a boy and girl named Dan and Runo. And well, you can guess who it was."

"Spectra," Marucho nodded.

"Yeah," Dan continued. "Anyway, then we ran into Lync and Mylene in the street, and they told us they had calibrated their transporter wrong and somehow ended up in Maui."

"Now that's just strange," Marucho cut in. "How could someone with so many profesionals nearby calibrate the transporter wrong?"

"Not only that, but how did they get the exact coordinates of Maui?" Alice asked, her curious brown eyes open wide.

"I dunno, but let us continue," Drago said.

"Yeah, so anyway, Runo and I kept on going to the beach, and then after a little while I got caught in an undertow," Dan continued.

"The idiot scared me to death," Runo remarked when Dan paused.

"Can I finish?" Dan asked, looking at her, an exaggerated annoyed look on his face.

"Go ahead."

"Anyway, I thought I was gonna die. I tried to fight it but I just couldn't get free. And then, all of a sudden, someone had grabbed me. I didn't try to fight him and when he got me to the surface I tried to help him get back to shore but he told me not to. I didn't recognize his voice then. But when we got there, Runo freaked and I realized it was Spectra. He told me I was in his debt and to call him Keith, then the other Vexos showed up and we had a conversation and then we all basically went our separate ways and Runo and I ordered pizza."

"Dan ate almost all of it before I had even finished my first slice," Runo grumbled, glaring at Dan.

"Sorry!" Dan cried. Julie rolled her eyes.

"And what happened this morning that made you all so sure you needed us out here?" Julie pressed.

"I'd like to know that as well," Alice said, polite as always.

"Okay, I'm getting to that," Dan said. "Well this morning, one of Gus's hornet things showed up in here."

"What are-" Julie started, but Marucho cut her off.

"They're communication devices that can transmit a signal and project a hologram so that when you receive one you are basically speaking to a hologram of the real version, like when Runo was stuck in the dimensional transporter," Marucho explained. Julie stared at him.

"Look, never mind. All you have to know was that a hologram of Gus showed up," Dan said. "We asked what he wanted and told him that we were on vacation and didn't want to fight, but he said that Spectra was missing and asked us to help, so we went."

"When we got there Shadow nearly gave us a heart attack," Runo continued. "And Gus took us to the kitchen and told us about what we should all do, and he let Dan borrow that communication thingy to contact Shun."

"Oh that's what it was," Shun realized. Dan nodded.

"After that we came home. Shun, we kinda figured you could go on scouting missions with your ninja skills, since you definitely wouldn't be noticed or caught by the police," Dan said. "And besides, with your Ventus powers you could probably fly."

"I wouldn't go that far, Dan," Shun said.

"I can skate around the sky at night," Julie pipped up. "And I'm guessing that you guys would be looking around at night with your wings, right?"

"Yeah," Runo said.

"Well, if that's the case, then you're going to need some camouflage," Alice spoke up, standing up. She smiled at Runo's confused gaze. "Your wings and your skates, Julie, all give off light. By camouflage with Darkus, we'll be able to prevent anyone from seeing your wings or your road, Julie."

"Ah sweet!" Dan gasped, grinning.

"I can make wings come, too," Alice smiled. The others gasped.

"Really?" Runo exclaimed. Alice nodded, and purple, black and blue flames suddenly appeared in the air, swirling around in a circle behind Alice. She grinned as they all came together, forming black and purple bat wings. Around them was an aura of blue flames, and the gem around Alice's neck was glowing slightly.

"Whoa," was all Julie could say.

"I never expected that," Shun said expressionlessly. (**Hm... Ironic?**)

"I have to admit, Alice, I didn't really think that bat wings would suit you," Runo told her friend, walking over. "But seeing it now, I kinda think otherwise."

"Thanks Runo!" Alice smiled, making them vanish.

"Um, I hate to interrupt," Marucho said, "but I think that I should hook up my computer. I think that checking the news records and other things online might be of use to us."

"Okay Marucho," Dan said.

"Does this place have free Wi-fi?" Runo asked.

"Don't worry about it, Runo," Marucho assured her. "I've got my credit card if I have to pay for it. And anyway, I have a 3-G adapter."

"Whoa, really?" Julie gasped. He nodded.

"Yeah, this is something I created with my technicians. It works anywhere and is much more compact than those in stores. I have a solar panel in my bag over there in case we get lost in New Vestroia. Then we can have Wi-Fi and be able to use it." Dan and Runo sweatdropped.

"Well, I'll take a look around before it gets dark," Shun decided. The window was open, and after Ingram had floated over to him, he was gone. Dan assumed he had jumped out the window, but he never really knew with Shun.

"Okay then," Dan said. "I say that we stay here for a while while Shun goes out."

"Alice, do you want to help me with this?" Marucho asked. He pulled out a laptop and was plugging it in. "You brought your laptop, right?"

"Yeah I did," Alice confirmed. "I'll power it up and help you look up information on where Spectra might be."

"That would be great, thanks Alice," Marucho smiled.

"So should I got around town asking?" Julie asked.

"No, Volt already did that," Runo told her. "I think that we should just hang around here for a while."

"Oh."

"Well, at least until it gets dark," Dan suggested.(**AGH THERE IS SOMETHING JAMMING MY BACKSPACE KEY!**) "That would be when Shun gets back and maybe he'll have some new info."

"I think that's a good idea," Gorem said.

"Yes," Drago agreed.

"How about we all catch up?" Elfin asked.

"Sounds good!" Preyas cried. All of the Bakugan, who had gathered around to hear Dan and Runo's story, all bounced away with each other to go speak alone. Dan and the others watched as they departed, then turned back to each other.

"Well, while the two of you are looking up news records," Dan said, "I think that we'll go down to the pool, if that's okay with you."

"Sure thing, Dan!" Marucho smiled.

"Yeah, it takes a while to go through all of this data anyway," Alice smiled, getting out a power cord and her laptop.

"Alright, thanks!" Dan grinned. "If something insane happens just give us a ring!"

"With what?"

"No idea. See you in a little while!" Dan said, grabbing his bathing suit and a towel, then running out the door. Runo rolled her eyes and grabbed her cell phone, bathing suit and towel off of a chair.

"You have my number, right Alice?" Runo asked.

"Oh yes, I've got it on my computer, Runo," Alice told her, smiling. Runo smiled and walked toward the door, then turned back to look at Julie, who was tearing through her bag.

"Oh come on, where did I put it? I know I packed it, now where is it?"

"Uh, Julie?" Marucho asked, uncomfortably.

"Hush, I'm looking for-"

"I think it's on my face." Julie blinked.

"Huh?" She and the others stared at Marucho, who had a bikini resting on his head. Julie smiled. "Oh I threw it at you... sorry."

"Uh... don't worry about it, Julie," Marucho said softly while she snatched it off of his head. His cheeks were red.

"Alright then! Come on, Runo, do you have an extra towel around here?" Julie asked, looking around.

"In the bathroom."

"Alright! I'll meet you down there then," Julie said. She dashed into the bathroom and was behind Runo by the time she had walked out of the door. Dan was waiting at the elevator and grinned when the girls came walking up.

"What took you guys so long?" he asked.

"Oh, you know," Julie said whistfully.

"Hm? No, I don't know," Dan responded. Runo rolled her eyes.

"Come on, let's get swimming! At least now I don't have to worry about you drowning—do I?" she demanded. Dan laughed.

"Nah, you don't have to worry about it! Come on!" The elevator dinged and opened, allowing the three teenagers to walk in. Dan held up the card key and pressed the button that would take them down to the pool. Runo watched him as he leaned back against the wall of the elevator. Man, Dan was just so... so... Perfect? Flawless? The dream guy?

She rolled her eyes in her head. He definitely wasn't flawless, although she would have liked to believe it. Perfect? Well, sure, they got into arguments every now and then, but... Yeah, he was perfect, she decided. She looked at him again, taking in his slightly sunburned cheeks, his sharp, kind red eyes, his messy brown hair. He blinked, realizing she was watching him, and turned to look at her. He grinned, his white tooth smile, making Runo blush without realizing it. He looked at her curiously.

"What's wrong?"

"Huh?" she asked, then noticed the heat in her cheeks. "Its- it's nothing!"

"Whatever," Dan said, grinning. She stared at him, then smiled. Was he her dream guy? She didn't even have to think to find the answer to that question.

Duh!

"**Ugh, I had writters block on that chapter," Breezyfeather groans. "I'm sorry about that."**

"**That it took so long to update?"**

"**Well, yeah, what else Anubius?" Breezyfeather asks.**

"**Whoa whoa whoa, since when is he in here?" Keith asks. Anubius looks at Keith.**

"**We have a similar hairstyle."**

"**Hm. I guess we do."**

"**Yeah, he's one of the main characters in the next series, Mechtanium Surge," Breezyfeather says, lifting her index finger and her eyes widening in emphasis of her interest as she explains. "He's the leader of Team Anubius."**

"**What happened to Jake and them?" Shun asks.**

"**Who knows? I just want Runo to come back! And maybe Mira, Keith, Gus, Barron, and Ace," Breezyfeather says. "Barron is just your average fanboy, though..."**

"**No stereotyping," Shun says. Breezyfeather stares at him.**

"**You know, I never really expected you to act like that when you were with Marron," Breezyfeather murmurs. "I mean, you're a ninja."**

"**Didn't I just say 'No stereotyping'?"**

**Virtual penny for your thoughts?**

**Review please!**


	5. Prison? WHAT!

**And it is now time for chapter... I think... five?**

"**I think it's five," Runo says.**

"**Okay thanks," Breezy says.**

**I'll let you get reading. I'm not feeling up for an intro... but I would like to thank Forever-Forgotten22 for the long and hilarious conversations we share! Thanks!**

"Dan," Drago called. Dan and Runo looked up from where they were swimming in the pool. Julie popped up from under water, gasping for air. Both girls had their hair pulled up in swim caps, as were the rules because of the length of their hair. Runo pushed her goggles up off of her eyes and blinked at Drago.

"What's up?" Dan asked. "Did Shun come back?"

"No, Marucho and Alice found something that I think you should see," Drago said. Dan, Runo, and Julie exchanged glances, then Runo looked around the room. There was no one inside swimming at the time, and all of their swimming essentials were resting on the chairs. Runo, Dan and Julie all quickly got out of the pool and dried off slightly. Runo grabbed Dan and Julie's arms and Drago floated over to them, and then she teleported them upstairs into their room, all of them desperate to find out what Alice and Marucho had found.

They reappeared in front of the couch in the room and Runo let go of Dan and Julie. Alice and Marucho looked up at them and then glanced back at their computer screens. They were both sitting at a coffee table and had their laptops back to back on the table. They hadn't turned on the lights and it was about 6'oclock in the evening, so it was dark. The glow of the screens on their faces made them look creepy and Dan shuddered.

"What did you find?" Runo asked.

"Yeah guys, spill!" Julie cried. Marucho and Alice looked up at them, then turned their bodies to face them.

"Okay, well, you guys aren't really going to believe this," Marucho started, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "But..."

"Um..." Alice couldn't find the right words to express what she wanted to say. Marucho didn't want to tell them either, because they would all freak out. He sighed.

"Come on, just say it already," Dan urged them. Alice and Marucho exchanged glances and Marucho sighed again.

"Okay, Dan. Um, we were looking at news reports, and we found something," he said slowly. "Um, I think that it might be better if you got all of the Vexos here to listen."

"Oh come on! Why won't you just tell us already?" Runo demanded.

"Yeah! Come on, just tell us!" Julie agreed. Marucho stared at them a little fearfully and was saved by Alice.

"Come on guys, this is really serious. He's not dead or anything, but its really important that-" Then, a knock came from the door. Dan blinked, then walked over to it and glanced through the peephole. He blinked in confusion, but opened the door anyway.

"Shun?" Dan asked. "Oh, and you guys!"

"Hello Dan," Gus said, looking mildly annoyed. Lync looked mad and had a red mark on his cheek. Mylene and Shadow were looking around curiously while Volt just stood there with his arms crossed.

"Dan, I figured Marucho and Alice would have found an answer right now, and from the look on Runo's face I'd assume I'm correct," Shun explained. Runo glared at him and he grinned. She rolled her eyes and then blinked. She was still wearing her bathing suit in front of the enemy. She yelped and ducked into the bathroom, quickly grabbing a bathrobe. Dan stared at her.

"What's with her?" he asked.

"Who knows?" Drago said. She came out wearing the bathrobe and Dan cocked his head in confusion.

"Runo, they've already seen you in a bathing suit, when we met them at the beach you know," Dan told her. She glared at him and he backed off. "Why does she suddenly go from being happy to being ticked off?" he muttered, too low for her to hear him. He didn't hear Shadow behind him, and when he muttered into his ear Dan jumped in surprise.

"Dude, girl's are just bizarre," he said. "Mylene is like that, too. I feel your pain." Dan stared at him with wide eyes as he pushed past him and walked into the room.

"Uh... you can come in, I guess," Dan said, following Shadow after a moment. Mylene, Gus, Volt, and Lync followed him while Shun closed the door. After a few steps, though, Lync froze. Shun and Runo looked at him curiously, then followed his gaze. Alice was glaring at him. Lync's face got red and he looked at his feet, embarrassed.

"Okay then," Julie mumbled. "Awkward much?" Alice looked away from Lync, thankful that no one noticed the blush rising on her cheeks. Shun, however, was not one to miss such a minor detail, and raised his eyebrow at the red haired girl. She looked away from him and back at the computer screen.

"Can someone please turn on the lights?" Mylene asked.

"Uh, sure," Runo said. She made her hand a fist and then grinned as light shined through her fingers. They all stared as she opened her hand, an orb of light rising from her palm and shining more light than the lamp in the corner of the room could ever hope to. She let it float there and glanced around at Marucho, Lync, and Shadow's open mouths. Mylene looked a little surprised while Gus and Volt just stared at her. Dan shrugged and the others were looking at Marucho and Alice.

"Come on, Marucho," Julie begged. "Tell us!"

"Yes, I am curious to learn what you have uncovered," Volt said. Shun nodded, somehow hanging from a rope stuck in the air vent. Dan and the others stared at him.

"Dude, how did you-?"

"Dan, it's not worth it," Runo muttered. Dan shrugged.

"Alright, since everyone's here," Marucho began. "Well, Alice and I were going through some of the criminal records in the area, kinda hoping that nothing would show up. And we both came across something that we thought was kinda strange."

"The details of an arrest made in Maui last night," Alice continued, typing in a few commands on her computer. "We read the articles and it didn't give out any names, but it did describe a boy of about fifteen with spiky blond hair and tan skin." All of the people in the room stiffened, except Shun, who was hanging upside down and reading the article over Marucho's shoulder.

"I managed to track down the records of criminal activity on this island," Marucho continued. "And if you don't give the officers the contact information of your legal guardian, then you are sent to a juvenile detention facility in California until you finally give in and call them."

"Spectra has no legal guardian that he can call here," Alice told them. "So, if he were arrested, then he would be taken there. We would have no way of knowing."

"Are you suggesting that he was arrested?" Gus asked.

"He's not that dumb," Dan agreed. The two boys glanced at each other, then looked away.

"Well, we weren't so sure about that either," Alice admitted. "So we didn't want to call you up here until we had solid proof."

"So where's your proof?" Mylene asked.

"Well, after we hacked the server of the Juvenile Detention Facility in California, where he would be held, we came across the criminal records," Marucho told them, turning so that he was facing the Vexos. "We found data on the criminal who had been arrested yesterday. The name was Keith Clay."

Gus and the others gasped and looked at one another. Dan and Shun exchanged glances.

"So he's using his Vestal name," Gus murmured.

"We didn't just want to base it off the name only," Alice said. "We took it a little further and found pictures. You know, the ones that the police take with your number?"

"What?" Lync asked. The Vexos looked a little confused and Marucho quickly typed in a few commands.

"Like this," he said, pointing to the screen. Gus peered over his shoulder and his eyes widened. Three pictures of Keith were there, his tall blond hair sticking up as he stared decisively at the camera.

"Master Spectra," he whispered. Mylene pushed him aside and looked at the screen.

"Oh." One by one, the Vexos took a look at the screen and then stepped back.

"As you can see, he was arrested," Marucho concluded. The kids in the room all were silent for a minute, and then Dan spoke.

"Okay then. So what are we going to do?"

"That's a good question," Shun commented, landing on his feet on the ground. He looked around the room, his eyes pausing on Dan and Runo, and on Gus and Lync.

"How are we going to get him out of prison? What did he even _do_?" Runo asked. "I mean, besides kidnap me."

"Will you let that go?" Lync snapped.

"Hey, if it were you would you let it go?"

"Probably."

"Yeah right!"

"Enough!" Gus shouted. Runo and Lync glared at each other, then looked away. Lync glanced at Alice, who was still glaring at him, and felt a blush rise on his cheeks. Alice blinked at him as he averted his gaze, then looked back at the computer.

"Well, Gus, don't you have those spy things?" Dan asked.

"Yes, but if he's in prison, he won't be in private, will he?" Gus questioned him. "He would have to be in private for me to give him his message."

"Oh. Right," Dan said quietly.

"Um... what if we assigned two people to go scout it out?" Runo asked. They all looked at her and she squirmed. "What if we decided on two people to scope the place out and then we can decide on when to bust him out? I mean, with all of us here it should be easy!"

"What do you mean? You're the only ones with powers," Shadow said. Runo stared at him.

"Um, hello? You guys are Vexos! We're the Battle Brawlers! What do we have in common?"

"The fact that we're enemies?" Julie piped up. Runo glared at her.

"No, but Runo is right. We all have _Bakugan_," Volt said. All of their eyes widened at the realization.

"Alright! Then let's go bust into that prison and get him outta there!" Shadow cried, a crazy grin on his face as he laughed.

"The sooner we get him out of there the better," Mylene agreed.

"Hold up," Shun said. All of them looked at him and he opened his eyes, searching their faces. "I still think that we should take Runo's advice and take a look around first. If we do that, then we might be able to get him out without using the powers of our Bakugan."

"Yes, that would be a good idea," Marucho said. "And I've got the schematics of the place. It shows were every video camera, every guard is stationed. That would definitely come in handy."

"So we're gonna deploy a scouting mission?" Lync asked.

"It looks that way," Drago said.

"So who's gonna go?" Elfin asked.

"That's a good question," Shun said.

"Well, if you ask me, Shun should go," Preyas pipped up. "He is a ninja after all."

"That's fine with us," Ingram said.

"Should one other person go? In case he gets caught? Which probably won't happen, but still," Runo said.

"Okay," Dan said. "I'll go!"

"Uh, Dan, are you sure that's a good idea?" Drago asked. Dan blinked and looked at him.

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"You aren't exactly Mr. Stealth."

"Huh? So what, I can move quietly!"

"Riiiight, and knock over your mother's lamp."

"Hey, that was in the middle of the night and I was sleep walking!"

"Deny it all you want, Dan," Runo grinned. "But lets face it. You have no stealthy abilities whatsoever. I'll go."

"Why you?" Dan demanded.

"Well let me think, smart guy," Runo snapped. "I can teleport. I can _fly_. I can turn _invisible_."

"Not to mention throw water on people," Lync muttered.

"Shut up! That's what you get for kidnapping me!"

"Everyone just calm down," Mylene ordered. They all fell silent. Mylene glared around at them. "Look. We all know that we Vexos can't get him out of there ourselves. So we enlisted in your help. And I don't want to have to regret it, because unless you guys don't decide I'm going to regret it and I swear I won't ever show mercy to you in a battle."

"Uh... okay then," Dan said quickly. "Runo, if you're sure..."

"I'm sure, Dan!" Runo insisted. He bit his lip.

"Don't worry, Dan," Shun said. "I'll take care of her." Runo stared at him. Dan and Shun looked at each other and something passed between them that Runo couldn't see. Silent conversations between best friends. Then, Shun smiled and Dan smiled, and Dan looked at Runo.

"Be careful, okay?" Runo looked at him, at his kind, smiling face. He had complete confidence in her, and she could feel a slight blush making its way across her cheeks.

"Don't worry," she said softly. "Do you guys mind if I put on some clothes?"

"Go ahead," Mylene said. "Hey, mind if I help you with that?" Runo stared at her and Mylene raised an eyebrow at her.

"Uh... sure?"

"Come on, then," Mylene said, pushing past her. Runo blinked at her back, but followed her into her room. The two shut the door behind them and Mylene turned to look at Runo.

"Look, if you're going scouting, you're gonna want something that won't restrict your movement and won't get you caught. Do you have any dark colors?"

"Um, I think I packed something," Runo said, walking over to the dresser in the room. She looked through her clothes and found a pair of black pants and a black tourist tee shirt with rainbow letters on it that said, "Maui!" Mylene sighed.

"Do you have anything else? That doesn't have bright colors on the front?"

"I'm not sure. Shun might."

"Shun's a guy. Ugh, maybe he has something like a black scarf that you can put on or something... hold on I'll be right back," Mylene said, walking out of the room. Runo stared at the door as it closed. "Shun, do you have a black shirt that Runo can wear?" Runo groaned, falling back on the bed. A minute later, Mylene came back in and tossed Runo a black tank top. "That should fit you."

"Th-thanks," she said. Mylene shrugged, then turned around as Runo quickly threw on the garments. She yanked a brush through her still wet hair, grimacing because the chlorine made it clump together. "Man I wish I could take a shower first," she grumbled.

"Sorry," Mylene shrugged. Runo sighed, then quickly braided her hair down her back and tied it with a hair tie.

"Okay, uh, what sort of shoes do you have?" Mylene asked. Runo blinked at her, then glanced at the floor near her bed.

"I have my usual shoes, some sandals, and a pair of sneakers," Runo told her. Mylene followed her gaze and grabbed her sneakers, which were white.

"These will have to do. They'll allow you the most movement," she said, handing them to Runo, who put them on.

"Thanks," she said. Mylene huffed and looked away.

"Shun should let you use one of his capes, I think," Mylene told the blue haired girl. "Good luck."

"Thank you," Runo said softly. Mylene didn't respond, instead left the room. Runo sighed, looking at Tigrerra. "You ready?"

"Of course. Bring your Gauntlet in case," she said.

"Right," Runo nodded. She grabbed the Gauntlet off the dresser and walked out of the room, looking around for Shun. He was leaning on the wall near the door and looked up as she walked in. Dan smiled at Runo and stood up, walking over to her. She looked up at him, noticing how he was taller than her. The last time he had stood over her like that had been when he left for New Vestroia again.

"Like I said, be careful," he whispered to her. She smiled and nodded.

"Don't worry."

"Hard not to."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He laughed and stood to the side. Runo walked over to Shun, who looked down at her. She grinned at him and he smiled back. The two turned back to the others and nodded.

"Good luck, guys!" Julie called.

"Be careful," Alice told them.

"Here," Gus said, tossing them two ear pieces. Runo and Shun caught them, Runo confused. "Marucho will be able to talk you through the place."

"I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get through it on my own, but whatever," Shun said, putting the ear bud over his ear. Runo did the same thing.

"It has a tracking device in it, so we'll know where you are," Mylene explained. Runo nodded, then she looked at Shun. She offered her hand and he took it, their other hands closing around their Bakugan.

"What are the coordinates?" Runo asked. Gus told her, then she closed her eyes, concentrating. The next thing they knew, they were standing- no, _falling_, through the night sky. Runo and Shun both gasped, letting go of each other. Runo quickly willed her wings to appear, allowing her to hang, suspended, in the air. Shun, on the other hand, kept falling, even though he did several impressive flips.

Suddenly, he whipped out his grappling hook. "Runo, catch!" he shouted, flinging it into the air. Runo gasped when it wrapped around her leg, but it didn't stab her. She quickly pulled up, grimacing, as it held Shun up. Runo looked around, trying to find where the ground was. She blinked, realizing that they were floating above a brightly lit open area. Shun had seen it too, and was accessing the situation. "Do you know where we can land?" he asked.

"I was hoping you'd know," Runo called. He took in the ground below them, then noticed an open part of the roof.

"Hey, see that spot on the roof?" Runo followed his hand, which was pointing.

"Yeah."

"Can we get there?"

"I think so. Hang on!" Runo dove down, taking Shun with her. The roof quickly got big and she was surprised. She pulled up a little late, sending Shun flying. He was able to catch himself on the edge of the roof, however, then easily got back up.

"Nice landing," he grinned. Runo rolled her eyes, sitting down, lightly, and trying to unwind the grappling hook from her leg.

"Can you get this off of me?"

"Sure." He walked over, pulling out a ninja knife(**I have no idea what they're called, I don't watch Naruto**) and quickly slashing the rope. She stared at him, then shrugged it off.

"Thanks."

"Anytime."

"Um... what now?" she asked, looking around.

"We made it to the roof, but I think that the real problem is going to be finding Spectra," Shun said, looking around. "I'll have a look around. You stay here." He was gone in an instant, not giving her time to argue. She blinked at the spot where he had been, then sighed.

"Figures he'd leave me here," she grumbled. "Maybe I should get an areal view? Tigrerra, what do you think?" she asked.

"It might be a good idea. That way, if someone saw us come down, they wouldn't see us if they came to investigate. However, Shun did say to stay here," Tigrerra said. Runo rested her head on her hand, crossing her legs.

"Well, I just think that it would be helpful if we get an idea on the size of this place," she said.

"Just think carefully about your strategy, my Lady," Tigrerra said. Runo nodded, smiling.

"Don't worry about it! I learned that much when I took that Test in Vestroia. Lars Lion nearly crushed you, and I'm not willing to take that risk again. With anyone or anything."

"So you must be Runo Misaki," a voice called out. Runo jumped, her heart pounding. She shot to her feet, her wings still perfectly visible. She didn't notice, however, and was trying to make out the figure at the edge of the roof.

"Who are you?" Runo demanded. She didn't think to go invisible, or to run. She just wanted to know who figured out she was here.

"Runo be _careful_," Tigrerra urged. The figure chuckled and Runo bit her lip nervously.

"You don't need to know my name. Just know that your pal Keith isn't leaving here any time soon. You can be sure of that." The figure was a boy, Runo could tell that from his voice. She clenched her fists, glaring at him.

"What do you want with Sp-with Keith?" Runo called.

"That is none of your concern. But unless you leave, you'll find yourself in that cell with him."

"And might I ask what cell that is?" Runo asked. The figure laughed.

"You don't really think I'm that dumb, do you?"

"Shut up! Who are you?" The figure was silent. "Answer me!"

"Leave. If you know what's good for you, you'll do what I say." Runo blinked, taking a nervous step back. She jumped up, shooting into the air. Thinking quickly, she transported herself behind the figure, floating there with her wings. She was carefully silent, then shot toward his back, causing him to fly forward with a cry of surprise. She made her wings vanish, then became invisible before the figure could recover. He whirled around angrily and Runo got a glimpse of his face.

He had dark skin and white hair that stood up on his head like Barron's. His eyes were gold, and his pupils were slitted, like a cats. His eyes weren't like a human's, Runo realized. But they weren't like Vestals either. She didn't have time to ponder it, because now the boy was looking around, confused. Runo quickly sidestepped to the right and crept over to where she had been before, hoping he wouldn't look for her. Once out of earshot, she pressed a button on her earpiece.

"Marucho? Shun? Someone?" she hissed. No one answered for a moment, and she could feel horror creeping up on her. _Don't panic. You've been in this situation before, Runo_, she reminded herself. _Before, you put up a good fight. You'll be able to do that again._ The boy was looking around, then started toward her position and she stiffened, backing away in fright.

"Runo?" Shun answered. She sighed in relief, a little too loudly, for the boy looked up in suspicion.

"Shun! I need you to come back here, quick!" Runo whispered.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Some kid is here. He found me, and I have no idea who the heck he is. He's not a human, and he's not a Vestal!" She could hear Shun's sharp intake of breath on the other line. However, when he spoke again, he had an eerie calmness in his voice.

"How can you tell?"

"His eyes. They're not human."

"Not Vestal either?"

"Nope."

"Jump off the roof." Runo blinked in confusion, then hissed.

"What?"

"Just do it, go visible for a sec, and I'll catch you." Runo sighed, became visible, then stepped backward off the roof. She could feel herself falling and panicked for a moment, then found protective arms clasped around her. She gasped, feeling the sharp impact of Shun's feet on the ground. She looked up at him, noticing his grinning face. He jumped into the air again, and then they were halfway across the prison yard, masked by the shadows. Runo looked at Shun and smiled.

"Thanks!"

"Don't mention it. Seriously. Don't mention it to Dan. He'll kill me." Runo laughed, then masked herself again, becoming invisible.

"We should look for Spectra," she said.

"I think I found his cell," Shun told her. She looked at him, but of course, he couldn't tell.

"Where?" she asked. He grinned, then handed her a piece of paper with a number written on it. She took it from him, curiously. She realized the number must the the number of a prison cell and quickly read it over. 5061.

"Is this his cell number?" she asked, just to be sure. Shun nodded. "Okay then. Should I meet you there?"

"You're going to have to teleport there, and alone," Shun told her. She stared at him, and Shun took her silence the right way. "I think that, if that boy knew you're here, they'll be tightening the security around Spectra's cell. The only way for you to make it in there without them knowing would be for you to teleport."

"Dang it, why can't things ever be easy?" Runo groaned.

"I'll wait here," Shun said. Runo sighed, looked at the number again, then closed her eyes, concentrating.

The next thing she knew, she was standing in a warm room. She opened her eyes, looking around. The first thing she noticed was S-Keith, lying, unconscious, on a cot. She didn't bother looking around at anything else, instead hurried over to his side. She stood there for a second, looking down at his sleeping face. He looked... much less evil with his mask off and sleeping, she realized. He looked distressed though, even in his sleep. She sighed, then lightly brushed his arm.

His eyes shot open and he looked around, panicked. Seeing nothing, he closed his eyes again, placing his arm over his eyes. "Helios I'm going crazy," he murmured.

"No you're not," Runo whispered. He sat up abruptly, looking around wildly. His face became pale and Runo sighed. "It's me! Runo!"

"What- Runo?" He lowered his voice when he said her name.

"Yeah," she whispered. "I'm invisible."

"I won't ask. How the heck did you get in here?"

"Teleportation. It's not worth it," she said quickly, deciding to spare him the questions. He was silent for a moment.

"How many of you guys are here?"

"Just me and Shun."

"Not Dan?"

"He's to bull-headed for this one," she said. He grinned and she made a mental note to smack him later. "Come on, we gotta go."

"No, they're all watching," he hissed. She blinked, looking up. She could see several officers standing near the door of the cell, one glancing behind him every so often. "And they took my blood."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Runo asked, confused.

"Foolish human," Helios growled, popping up from under Keith's pillow. "They took his blood. He's not a human. They'll know something's wrong." Runo hissed a few choice words under her breath and Tigrerra was shocked.

"Runo!"

"Sorry! Dang it, that means we've got to get Marucho or Alice in here," she grumbled. "We can't get you out yet..."

"Nope," Keith whispered. Runo sighed.

"I guess we'd better go then... oh, wait, before I forget," she remembered. "Do you know a kid with white hair and dark skin? He figured out who I was and I don't think he was a human." Keith's eyes narrowed.

"So, Ren's still here."

"Ren? Is that his name-"

"Runo, you have to go," Keith suddenly hissed. Runo blinked in confusion, then she heard the footsteps. Keith laid back down silently, closing his eyes and trying to look asleep.

"We'll get you out of here. Gus made us promise," Runo hissed.

"Kay," he whispered back. Runo teleported out of there, back to where Shun was waiting. He looked up at her foot fall and glanced around.

"Runo?"

"Yeah. I found him," she told him. He followed the sound of her voice, his eyes resting on a point not far from her face. "He's here alright."

"Well that makes things a whole lot harder," Shun muttered. "What happened?"

"I'll tell you when we get back, come on," Runo said. She became visible once more, grabbing Shun's wrist. Shun nodded at her, and then they were gone.

"**Was that long enough?" Breezy asks.**

"**I think so," Zenet says.**

"**Me too," Runo agrees.**

"**Yep," Mira nods.**

"**Okay then! Time to sleep!" Breezyfeather announces, lying down on her bed and instantly falling asleep.**

"**Uh... who's gonna post it?" Fabia asks.**

"**Isn't she still logged in?" Shun asks.**

"**No. She logged out earlier," Runo says.**

"**Then who-"**

"**I'LL POST IT!" Marucho shouts. "I HAVE THE POWER TO HACK!" He starts laughing maniacally.**

"**Did someone give him coffee again?" Runo asks.**

"**Don't look at me!" Dan says.**

"**We weren't," Shun says. They all turn to look at him and he sweatdrops.**

"**It wasn't me!"**

"**Suuuuuure it wasn't."**


	6. Friends and Enemies

"**Chapter 6 now!" Breezy says. "Shun, do the disclaimer!"**

"**Why...?"**

"**Because I said so?"**

"**... you're scared of me."**

"**What on Earth makes you think that?"**

"**Well... we're not on Earth right now, are we?" Shun asks. Breezyfeather stares at him.**

"**I-we're- okay that didn't even make sense. So we're on Neathia, big whoop. Fine then, what on Neathia makes you think that I'm scared of you?" Shun tosses a paper airplane at her and she yelps, ducking under her desk.**

"**That."**

"**Shut up."**

"**Breezyfeather does not own Bakugan," Zenet calls.**

"**Thank you!"**

Runo tossed and turned in her sleep, nightmares berating her. Her eyebrows were creased in frustration, and she let out small whimpers now and then. If you looked close enough, you'd see that small beads of sweat were dripping down her forehead.

The same was the state for Dan, but he was calling out Drago's name every so often. His fingers twitched next to his head, and he was clearly troubled. He kicked and tossed and turned, but he didn't wake up. Neither did Runo.

Julie and Alice peered into their rooms nervously, trying their best not to wake them as they crept toward the door. They were careful to avoid the sleeping bodies of the Vexos, which were curled on the ground, almost all of them with blankets. Shadow had decided to curl up on the floor without a blanket, insisting that Mylene have his. Mylene had hit him, shouting that just because she was a girl didn't mean that she was helpless. Besides, she had her cape. He didn't listen, and now he shivered.

Julie stepped carefully between them, jumping when Lync turned over in his sleep. Her roller blades were slung carefully over her shoulders, and now she walked with only her socks on. Gus's communicator was clasped in her hand, as was the case with Alice. She crept silently by Lync, glancing down at his sleeping face. She could feel a slight blush rising on her cheeks and she closed her eyes, trying to understand. No, she didn't like him! He was such a jerk to herself and her grandfather. Why would she like him? He betrayed her! She shook her head, her cheeks hot.

"Alice," Julie hissed. She was at the door, her hand resting on the doorknob. "Come on, we've gotta go! Unless you want Shun to find out!"

"I'm coming," she whispered, creeping the last few feet carefully. She joined Julie at the door and pulled on Runo's black sneakers, which she had left by the door. She was thankful that they fit.

Julie turned the doorknob silently and glanced back at the window, worried that she had forgotten to unlock it and leave it slightly open. The curtains waved slightly in the breeze and Alice sighed. "Don't worry, Julie. It's fine."

"Hm..." she murmured worriedly. "Lets just hope that the others don't find out what we're doing."

"They will... unless... we hurry," Hydranoid hissed.

"Then let's go already," Gorem said. Julie pulled the door open, grimacing when it creaked slightly. She prayed that the sound, however slight, wouldn't be enough to wake any of the Vexos, or Shun for that matter. Julie ducked out of the room, followed quickly by Alice, who silently closed the door behind her. The two looked at each other briefly, then hurried over to the staircase. They descended quickly and quietly, ending up at the bottom in a matter of minutes. Neither of them noticed the shadow that crept silently behind them.

"Come on, Julie," Alice said, ducking under the final staircase. She pulled out her transporter card, holding it up in front of her. Julie sat down on the staircase, pulling on her roller blades.

"Give me a sec okay? We might run into trouble and I wanna be able to get in and out quickly," Julie whispered through the darkness. All of the lights were out and it was difficult to see, so once she had her skates on and she left the guidance of the railing, she had to trail her fingers along the wall. Her skates began to give off a faint brown glow, allowing her to see where she was going a little better. She caught sight of Alice's shoes and looked up into the older girl's eyes. The chocolate orbs blinked at her, then became serious.

"If you're ready, let's go. Mira and the others are waiting for us," Alice murmured. The two grasped hands, then the card began to glow. The next thing they knew, they were standing in the darkened streets of a large city. Julie let go of Alice and the two looked around, staring up at the huge, looming buildings. Street lamps were out, if there were any. It was silent, not something expected for a city anywhere. Julie and Alice shivered at the same time and glanced at each other, then sighed.

"So... where now?" Julie asked. Alice looked around, placing her card in her pocket.

"That's a good question, Julie," Alice replied softly, not wanting to tear a hole on the curtain of silence that blanketed the air.

"Where did Mira say we would meet?" Gorem asked.

"At Omicron Tower," Hydranoid replied.

"What is it with the Vestals and their Greek Alphabet?" Alice mumbled.

"How are we supposed to figure out where that is?" Julie asked Alice.

"I have no idea," Alice admitted. Julie sighed.

"How about we get an aerial view?" she suggested. Alice grinned.

"I like the way you think, Julie," she smiled. Julie smiled back and then looked up at the sky.

"Winged Crystal Road!" The bright road shot out from under Julie's skates and she willed it up into the sky. Alice's wings appeared and she jumped up, flapping her dark bat wings with practiced ease. Julie pushed forward, following the road into the air.

"Do you see anything that could be Omicron Tower?" Julie asked, looking around. She had purchased a pair of Aviator Goggles over the internet and was now wearing them, just as Alice was wearing her heat sensitive visor. She had messed around with them a little bit and had now uncovered some of the other functions, such as night vision. She glanced around with them on that setting, able to evade obstacles with ease.

"I'm not sure. How about we call Mira?" Alice suggested. Julie looked at her.

"Why didn't we think of that in the first-"

"Watch out!" Alice cried. Julie gasped, swerving to avoid the flying car. She and the passenger locked eyes for a brief moment, dark blue and purple. The boy in the car had blond, unruly hair, and his finger was entwined in one lock of it. His shirt was white, and he had a purple cape. He was staring at Julie, eyes wide.

Then the car was speeding in the opposite direction of Julie, having just barely missed her. She skidded to a halt, panting at the close encounter. Who was that boy? She had a feeling that he was important, from the way he sat. Like he was used to being obeyed.

"Are you okay?" Alice asked, flying up behind Julie. She looked at the older, red haired girl and nodded.

"What the heck was that about?" she asked, still shell shocked. "That stupid car could have at least had headlights!"

"Well, judging by the fact that they're driving around at night, I would imagine that the purpose was to not be seen," Gorem told them.

"But where would they be going? He seemed pretty surprised when he saw me," Julie said.

"I wonder... if he realized... you're a human," Hydranoid suggested. Julie bit her lip.

"Do you think that he was going to cut off Mira and the others?" Alice asked. Julie and Alice exchanged horrified glances.

"Hurry, let's call Mira," Julie urged. She pulled out Gus's communicator and pressed the button, searching for Mira's contact. She pressed the button and the screen popped up, showing Mira's face.

"Mira!" Alice gasped.

"Gus, what do you-Alice? Julie? Oh. You have his communicator. Where are you guys?" Mira asked. "I told you to meet me at Omicron Tower."

"We don't know where that is!" Julie said. Mira sighed.

"Hold on, I'll send you the coordinates. Baron, can you send the coordinates of Omicron Tower to Gus's communicator?"

"Why his?"

"Julie and Alice are using it and can't find this place."

"Oh, okay! Coming right up, Master Julie!"

"Thanks Baron!" Julie smiled. Then, she got serious again. "Mira, I think you guys should be careful."

"What? Why? No one knows we're here," Mira said.

"When we were looking around a little while ago," Alice began, "a hover car drove by us. It nearly crashed into Julie and she got a glance at the passenger."

"He was this kid with blond hair and purple eyes," she said. Mira paled. "What's wrong?"

"Prince Hydron..." Alice and Julie gasped, staring at Mira through the communicator.

"What? You mean that crazy psycho that captured the Bakugan?" Julie demanded. Mira nodded gravely.

"Which direction was he headed in?" Mira asked. Alice and Julie looked at her helplessly. "Oh... you can't tell me that, can you?"

"Sorry," Alice said. "Just... hide."

"Will do. We'll see you in a little bit," Ace said, coming up behind Mira. The two girls nodded and then Mira's face vanished. Alice and Julie looked at each other, then the coordinates popped up on the screen. Julie looked at Alice.

"Think you can transport us there?" she asked. Alice nodded, holding up her card. She grabbed onto Julie's arm, holding her tightly. Then, the card began to glow, and they vanished.

The two girls and their Bakugan reappeared on the roof of a large building, both of them floating above it a little. They glanced around and Alice landed lightly on the roof, switching the sensor on her visor to thermal. Easily, she was able to make out the three figures crouched on the edge of the roof. "Hey guys!" she called.

"Alice, Julie," Mira said, getting up and walking up to them. Julie skated lower and the road vanished, allowing her to skate on the roof itself.

"Master Julie! Miss Alice! Welcome to Vestal!" Baron cried, running up to them. Alice had told him to call her "Miss" instead of "Master", since he refused call her just "Alice".

"Hi Baron! Hey Ace," Julie called, watching the mint green haired boy walk up calmly.

"Hi Julie," he said with a smile. Julie smiled back, then looked at Alice.

"If that really was Prince Hydron, then we should get going—now," Mira said. "I'm surprised that when we came here, we weren't arrested."

"Why arrested?" Julie asked.

"We go against the Bakugan battles for sport and the conquest of New Vestroia, remember?" Ace said. "We're traitors in their eyes."

"Yeah," Baron agreed. "Sadly, we'd be imprisoned for doing what's right."

"That's just messed up," Alice muttered. "But we should get going in case he is coming."

"Then what are we standing around here for?" Nemus asked.

"Let's go," Percival urged. Alice held up her card and all of them gathered behind her, each of them placing a hand on her shoulders. Alice concentrated, then the card began to glow.

_Alice, behind you_! A voice filtered through her head, a voice she was used to hearing. She gasped,the card flying out of her hands, and looked back, catching sight of a boy jumping out of a hover car. His cape flew up behind him as he landed on the roof, then threw something large through the air. Alice gasped and the others whirled around, letting go of her as they realized what was happening.

The cage descended silently, the white, electric bars digging into the rooftop. The electrical current was visible along the bars, and all of them stayed close to the center of the cage, not wanting to get shocked. The boy smirked, curling a lock of hair around his finger in satisfaction.

"Prince Hydron!" Baron yelled.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that all of you know who I am," Prince Hydron said with a cocky grin. "Except, maybe your two human friends don't."

"Oh we know who you are," Julie said angrily. "You're the jerk who kidnapped Runo and captured the Bakugan!"

"Ah, so you've heard of me," he said, looking down and grinning, his eyes closed. Alice glared at him.

"Alice, can't we still go?" Baron asked. Alice shook her head sadly, then pointing outside the cage. It gave off a faint glow, allowing them to see outside, and Baron's face fell when he saw the card sitting just outside the barrier of the cage. Alice looked at him sadly, then felt her necklace twitch under her shirt. She blinked, looking down.

_Alice, let me handle this_, the voice said. Alice closed her eyes and was instantly transported to that fertile field, a gentle breeze lifting her hair and causing her pant legs to fly forward.

"Masquerade," Alice said. "Hello."

"Hello, Alice," he said, smiling. "Allow me to take over from here."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Alice asked, looking at her face reflected in his mask. He smirked.

"Of course, Alice," he replied. "Besides, who better to contradict him than myself? He needs to be taught a lesson for fossilizing Hydranoid."

"Alright then," Alice nodded. "Just don't hurt anyone."

"Don't worry," he said, and he took over.

Mira and the others gasped as Alice's visor glowed and then lengthened into Masquerade's forked mask, glowing briefly as it appeared and then the glow vanishing suddenly. Alice's clothes were replaced with Masquerade's purple pants and white trench coat, and her hair rose above her head and became blond. Hydron watched the transformation surprise, his amethyst eyes wide. Masquerade looked up, his eyes flicking to Hydron, and his mouth forming a frown. He took a step toward the startled prince and took Hydranoid out of his pocket.

"Greetings. I am none other than Masquerade," he said, his line so well rehearsed, so often used, that he sounded just as commanding and fearless as he used to. Alice's Gauntlet was strapped to his arm, and he held Hydranoid between his index finger and his middle finger on his right hand.

"Wha—how—who—who are you?" Hydron demanded, taking a shocked step back. He clearly had not been expecting the girl, who appeared so harmless, so kindhearted, to transform into this threatening masked figure.

"Masquerade," Julie whispered. "Have you come to help us?"

"Yes I have, Julie," Masquerade replied, turning his head slightly.

"Thank you," Mira said quietly. Masquerade nodded, then turned back to Hydron.

"Well? Are you going to run your mouth off all night and talk us to sleep, or are you going to brawl and let the battle decide our fate?" Masquerade asked. Hydron stared at him.

"What are you talking about? I came to arrest these traitors, not gamble on some silly game," Hydron snapped, regaining his composure. "And you are going to come with us."

"You're seriously going to abandon the leader of your fighters?" Ace questioned. "You're going to leave him there, in jail, on Earth?"

"Dude, I don't like him, but that's just harsh," Barron agreed.

"Shut up!" Hydron snarled. "You know nothing. I am not concerned with that right now. I have orders to arrest the traitorous group known as the Bakugan Battle Brawlers Resistance. And that is what I intend to do."

"You're going to arrest us for doing what is right?" Mira demanded. "For giving the Bakugan back their rightful home?"

"You're going to throw them in jail for saving the world that we fought so hard to protect?" Julie continued.

"Not just them," Hydron hissed. "You two as well!"

"What did they do, Hydron?" Ace snarled.

"Yeah, what did Masquerade and Master Julie do?" Baron cried.

"They assisted in the escape of Runo," Hydron spat. "All of you must pay for your crimes!"

"You're a coward," Masquerade said suddenly. The brawlers all fell silent while Hydron gasped.

"You dare insult me-"

"You can give up the tough guy act," Masquerade said sullenly. "I know you're faking it."

"Shut up!" Hydron snarled. "You lousy peasant scum! Who do you think you are, to defy me?"

"Well, I don't know who he thinks he is, but I think that you are a jerk who needs some manners taught to him," a voice called out. Masquerade and the others gasped in surprise, looking up. Hydron looked up, angrily, then yelled in surprise as he jumped back, narrowly avoiding a composed but angry Shun.

"Shun!" Julie cried.

"Master Shun!" Baron yelled. Shun glared at Hydron, not acknowledging his comrades' warm greetings. He straightened up from where he was crouched on the ground, glaring at the spoiled prince.

"Let them go, or suffer the consequences," Shun threatened, his hands tight around his Ventus gem. Hydron stared at him, then smirked.

"Fine then. I dare you to make me release them," Hydron whispered, but Shun heard him thanks to his training. Shun didn't let his expression give anything away, and then he had vanished into the air. Hydron and the others gasped, Baron running forward to look around. Masquerade glanced around through his mask, changing the setting with a flick of his eyes to heat sensitive. Even those senses didn't reveal the stealthy ninja's location, and Masquerade was speechless. He knew that Shun had mad skills from his encounter with him at his Dojo, when Shun had battled alongside him and then changed sides to help Dan take Masquerade down, but he had no idea that Shun possessed these kinds of abilities. Perhaps it had something to do with that tornado that had appeared during that battle, Masquerade wondered.

"Where did he go?" Hydron asked out loud. He smirked. "I knew he wouldn't have the guts to attack me, the prince of Vestal and Ruler of New Vestroia!"

"Think again, creep," Shun hissed, appearing behind Hydron, who yelped in shock as Shun grabbed him, pinning his arms to his sides. Hydron struggled furiously, trying to throw the dark haired boy off, but it was in vain. Shun's grip remained as strong as iron, and he refused to budge. Once the blond prince had given up, Shun whispered in his ear, "Now you are going to release them."

"Why should I listen to you?" Hydron snapped, struggling again.

"Because if you don't, then you won't get anywhere," Shun said. Hydron's lip curled.

"Who are you to give me orders?"

"Oh, just cooperate already! The sooner you do, the sooner you'll be able to go back to bed, kid," Shun snapped.

"I'm not a kid!" Hydron retorted, lashing out with his feet. Somehow, he managed to get Shun to loose his balance and fall, sending the two of them rolling on the roof. Shun let go of the younger, smaller boy out of surprise and the boy didn't waste any time in getting away.

Masquerade was trying to get the cage to release them, but with little luck. He turned to Ace and the other Vestals. "Do you know how to get it to power down?" he asked.

"I know there's a switch on the top that is used to turn it on, and that there might be one to turn it off on it, too, but mostly that is done remotely," Ace explained. "If I can get up there, I might be able to shut it off because the force field has a hole at the top. I'd be able to reach through."

"Leave it to me," Julie smiled. She skated over to Ace and said, "Winged Crystal Road!". The glowing road grew from under her feet, up to the top of the cage, where it went through and circled around. "I don't think you'll be able to crawl through," she said, "but if you are then it makes things ten times easier!"

"Thanks Julie, but I thought that regular people couldn't walk on it," Ace said.

"I figured out a way to use my powers over Earth to make the road solid when it needs to be," Julie grinned. "So you can walk on it!"

"Alright!" Ace grinned. He stepped onto the road tentatively at first, then more confidently as he started up.

Shun jumped on Hydron, landing on top of the spoiled boy. He pinned Hydron's wrists to the roof after a little bit of struggle, then succeeded. Hydron was sprawled, face down, on the ground underneath Shun, his cheek pressed against the ground.

"I'll make you pay for this, Shun," Hydron hissed.

"I'd like to see you try," Shun fired back. Hydron struggled again, but Shun easily kept him pinned. After a moment, Hydron gave up and lay, panting, underneath the well trained ninja. However, there was one thought that gave him peace of mind at his loss to the older boy.

"Too bad," he said heavily, smirking. "You won't be able to save your friends over there."

"What are you talking about?" Shun asked, confused.

"That cage is a newer model," Hydron panted. "It has a timer in it. If the captives aren't released within ten minutes, then the cage will explode, killing all of those still imprisoned. It's already been seven minutes. The detonator vibrates every time a minute passes by. And it's gone off seven times. You have three minutes to either give in and come with me, or to watch your friends over there die right before your eyes. Your choice."

"You evil little snake," Shun hissed. Ace was struggling to find the off switch and Shun glanced over to him, his lip curled. "Ace! It's a newer model! It'll explode unless you guys can get out!"

"What?" all of the imprisoned Brawlers demanded.

"Quick! Baron, Mira, two of you guys, power up your Gauntlets!" Shun shouted.

"What? But why?" Julie asked.

"Just do it!" Shun yelled desperately. Masquerade and Julie exchanged glances, Julie's desperate and Masquerade's hard to read. The two placed their cards in their Gauntlet's, shouting, "Gauntlet, Powerstrike!" The time outside the rooftop slowed and then came to a stop.

"Now what?" Julie asked.

"I think," Masquerade said, "We should throw down our Bakugan."

"Why?" Mira asked.

"Yeah, what good will that do?" Ace asked.

"If you'll only get off me, Brawler," Hydron hissed, "I'll release them."

"Does it really look like I'm that stupid? You'll just throw something at me," Shun whispered. Hydron tried to throw him off, to roll over, to do _something_ to get him off, but Shun kept his fixed grip. Nothing Hydron did was successful.

"Think about it for a second," Percival said to Ace.

"All of us Bakugan are really big when we come out of our balls," Wilda continued.

"So if one of you were to throw us down," Nemus said.

"They'd destroy the cage," Mira finished. "Oh that's brilliant!"

"Better hurry," Ace said. "Time's running out."

"But it's frozen," Baron protested.

"Not above the roof it's not! Hurry!"

"Bakugan, brawl!" Masquerade shouted, tossing his Bakugan onto the ground.. "Hydranoid, stand!"

"Bakugan brawl!" Julie cried, throwing Gorem across the cage with all her might. "Ability activate! Grand impact! Bakugan stand! Lets go, Gorem!"

With a screech of breaking metal, the two Bakugan rose out of their balls, Gorem's fist slammed into nothing and he stumbled, but the cage had been destroyed. They were freed. Mira, Ace and Baron all jumped away from the remains of the cage, over to where Hydron was pinned to the ground, looking very, very mad.

"No! Release me at once," Hydron demanded. Shun grimaced when Hydron began struggling again, bucking and twisting and squirming. Somehow, he managed to dislodge Shun, and he rolled over and kneed him in the stomach. Shun gasped, grimacing, but didn't let his pain get in the way of capturing Hydron. He had to let the others get out of here. He'd follow later.

"Go guys!" he shouted. "Power down the Gauntlet's and get out of here!"

"What are you saying?" Mira asked, staring at Shun, who dove at Hydron. The two boys rolled over and over, eventually resulting in Shun landing on top. He grabbed Hydron's wrists again and pinned him to the ground once more, not trusting the boy. This time, he kept to the side, his arms there to pin down his but his stomach not in the range of his legs. Masquerade's mask became Alice's visor again and Alice was back, pushing the visor up to rest on her hair as it returned to its normal

"GO!" Shun shouted. "I'll deal with him. Alice, you can come back and get me some other time. It doesn't really matter."

"Shun!" Alice cried. She pressed the button on her Gauntlet and it spit the card out, and she caught it. "We can't just leave you here!" She reached up her hand and caught Hydranoid, who was flying back to her, just as Gorem was flying back to Julie.

"Just get out of here. I don't want the prince here to get caught in the warp," Shun said, looking back at her. Hydron glared at him, struggling.

"We can't just leave you here!" Baron protested.

"Yeah!" Julie agreed. "They're not supposed to know that we left! Shun, get over here!"

"No, I'll be fine! Dan will get over it," Shun snapped. "Go already!"

"Alice, come on," Ace said with a sigh. Alice stared at him. "He said to go. Lets go. He can handle himself." Alice hesitated, but gave in.

"Shun, we'll be back for you!" Julie called. Shun didn't respond, instead was focused on keeping the prince from getting away again.

"Let go! Let go! Let go!" Hydron was now shouting.

"Knock it off!" Shun growled, having trouble getting the boy back down. "Hurry up!"

Alice scooped up her card and looked at the others as they placed their hands on her shoulders once more. They all glanced at Shun again, then Alice's card began to glow. She closed her eyes, and then they had disappeared, a few sparkles the only trace that they had stood there before.

Shun let Hydron up, standing up and glaring at the younger boy.

"You're a spoiled brat, you know that?" Shun said to him. Hydron spat at Shun and threw himself at him. Shun caught his wrists easily. "You sure you want to do this again?" Shun looked at Hydron calmly, whereas the enraged prince struggled and yelled and cursed and called Shun a colorful assortment of names. The composed ninja just stared back at the deranged boy calmly, unconcerned.

"Are you done?" he asked. Hydron glared at him, then sighed and panted. Shun released his wrists and the boy took a few steps back, glaring at Shun. "I'll take that as a yes."

"I'll have you arrested," Hydron said to Shun. "You can't get back. I'll have them hunt you down and you'll be mine!"

"I doubt that," Shun said. He was behind Hydron suddenly, and before Hydron could even react to Shun's ninja move, Shun had tapped him on the shoulder. Hydron whirled around with a yell, and Shun had jumped back to his spot before. Hydron turned around warily, catching sight of Shun over there once again and shouting. Shun stared at him, and Hydron looked back, both of them watching the other through the darkness. Hydron reached behind him, pressing a button on the device in his hand. Shun stiffened when his hypersensitive ears detected the nearly silent sound of the spring in the button being squeezed. Shun narrowed his eyes at Hydron, but he didn't notice. His eyes weren't nearly as adapted to the dark as Shun's were.

Shun silently jumped, switching his position. He stood now to Hydron's right, a good fifteen feet from him. Shun kept silent, his powers over wind helping that, and knowing that baiting the prince right now would not be a good idea. Shun did not wear his vest, instead just his dark clothes underneath. He had his cape on, too, and his shoes were deadly silent even on the rooftop. Ingram was resting inside his cape, staying carefully concealed and quiet.

Shun knew that Hydron must have called for backup or something, and Shun knew that he should be running. However, there was just something that kept Shun there. Maybe the hope that Alice would return to take him back. But if she were coming, wouldn't she have returned already? By now, the boy had realized that Shun was missing and was looking around, angrily but also fearfully. He made up for his fear by adding a mocking tone to his voice as he called out. "What? Are you running from me? What's the matter, big tough Shun doesn't have enough guts to face the Prince of New Vestroia and Vestal? Or is he really a big chicken, just like his first Guardian Bakugan?" he mocked. Shun could feel anger begin to heat his blood. How dare he call Skyrus such a thing!

"I've heard all about your mother, Shun," Hydron continued, clearly enjoying this. Shun clenched his fists, anger keeping him rooted there. He didn't want to hear another insult made against his mother, or his Bakugan. And yet, it was simply because Hydron was making these jibes that he was still there. "Your mother gave you that Bakugan, Skyrus. Your weak, pathetic excuse for a mother. She raised nothing but a softy who can't even beat up a boy half his size. She'd call it 'decent', 'kind hearted', but we all know the truth. Your _weak_ mother raised a _weak_ boy."

"You little..." Shun hissed, snapping and jumping out of the shadows that hid him. Shun grabbed the boy's collar and held his face in front of his own. Angered amber eyes met terrified amethyst orbs. Wind raged behind him, slapping the boy with brute force. The prince's eyes widened in shock, but Shun didn't notice. "How dare you talk about my mother like that? She's _dead_. I had to watch my mother die! My mother _died_ right in front of my eyes! You... you little..." Shun let out a laugh. But his laugh had no humor in it. It was downright cruel, and it scared Hydron. "You have no idea about my background," Shun hissed. The prince could feel Shun's warm breath on his cheek, and he had never felt fear like this since his father had threatened to beat him. "I could kill you in an instant if I wanted to. But my mother told me to never kill anyone. To never hurt anyone _ever_. And the only time I'll _ever_ so much as _think_ about hurting someone, would be if one of my friends were in danger, or if someone _offends my mother_," Shun whispered. "So if I were you, I'd avoid mentioning her again, hear me Hydron?" Shun tossed the boy onto the ground. It took all of his will power to walk away from the bratty prince without turning to give him a black eye, but he did it.

Shun reached the edge of the roof, and he thought he could hear sirens in the distance. Shun didn't look back at the boy, who was coughing on the roof behind him. "Don't you walk away from me!" Hydron shouted, once he had recovered from the tight grip Shun had had on his collar. Shun paid him no mind, instead narrowed his eyes at the ground, thousands of feet below him. Shun clenched his fists, then looked up at the sky.

"Mom," he whispered. A star twinkled in the distance, a green star. Shun stared up at it for a moment, then nodded. Then, he had disappeared, falling through the air. Hydron's eyes widened when he saw the last of his cape disappear below the rooftop and he quickly got to his feet, running to the edge of the roof. He looked out over it on his hands and knees to see Shun falling fast through the air, and then he shot up again, and again, jumping off the air. Hydron stared on in shock as the stealthy ninja jumped up and up on nothing, finally landing on a roof over three hundred feet away.

The dark haired teenager did not turn to look back at Hydron, instead jumped away, vanishing into the darkness of the night.

"**I think it's safe to leave it there," Breezyfeather says, satisfied.**

"**Whoa, you made Shun seem like a semi-psychotic crazy person!" Dan goggles.**

"**Well he has emotions, too. And since( in the Japanese version and therefore the real version) his mother is dead, I figured he'd be rather ticked off if Hydron made a remark about his mother," Breezyfeather says.**

"**So she's not in a coma and therefore will not return in any future season?" Dan says.**

"**Yeah. Sadly." Breezyfeather says. "I'm sorry Shun." Shun is silent, then gets up and leaves the room, slamming the door behind him. Breezyfeather grimaces.**

"**Something tells me he didn't like that," she says softly.**

**Um, I might not update as quickly. I have a book report that I have to do in reading. -.-'**

**So please bear with me! (Dan: I'm pretty sure you used the wrong 'bear'.**

**Me: I didn't ask you.)**

**I wanna know what you guys thought about that last chapter.**

**So... review please?**


	7. Finding Shun and Rescuing Runo AGAIN!

"**Chapter 7 now," Breezyfeather says. "But and then again, you guys already knew that."**

**Another balloon just fell off the ceiling in my room. -.-**

**Go on, read. :)**

"We have to go back for him!" Dan shouted, slamming his hands down on the table and instantly regretting it. He didn't let his pain show, though, as he glared at Ace and Baron. "I can't just leave my best friend alone on New Vestroia, where he could get captured at any minute!"

"Calm down, Dan," Drago said.

"How do you expect me to calm down?" Dan demanded. "Shun is on his own out there and we can't help him!"

"Uh, Dan-" Alice started, but Ace cut her off.

"Dan, you of all people should know that Shun can handle himself," Ace said, looking at Dan levelly. Dan turned on him.

"He's my best friend! He was up against that nasty Prince Hydron of yours," Dan snapped.

"Hey, remember who else is in the room!" Shadow snapped. A voice from next door shouted something muffled, but sounded like, "Shut up!", and Mira called back, "Sorry!"

"Look, I can't just leave him there, just like you can't leave Spectra in prison," Dan said to Shadow, more quietly.

"Um..." Alice tried again, but was cut off once more when Gus cut in.

"Perhaps we should leave the hotel and look for a place where we can talk without interruptions?" he suggested.

"Any particular place you have in mind?" Runo asked.

"How's the beach sound?" Mylene asked. They looked at each other, then nodded.

"Alice, can you take us there?" Runo asked the red haired girl, who nodded.

"Uh, but first," Alice started. "I think you guys should hear this." She narrowed her gaze and looked from face to face.

"What?" Dan asked, impatiently.

"When we were there on New Vestroia, Prince Hydron came to confront us," Alice told him.

"Yeah, so what?" Dan demanded.

"The fact that Spectra and the rest of the Vexos are underlings, for lack of a better word," Alice added, seeing the faces of the Vexos, "of him, wouldn't it be of his concern that Spectra is currently imprisoned?"

"Where are you going with this?" Volt asked.

"Yeah, stop speaking in riddles and get on with it," Dan urged her. Runo glared at him and took this opportunity to smack him in the head.

"You're so rude, Dan!" she told him. He glared at her, rubbing his head.

"Fine," Alice said. "Hydron said that he didn't care that Spectra was stuck here." Everyone but Julie, Mira, Ace and Baron gasped.

"Are you serious?" Gus asked.

"Well, that's the impression I got from him," Alice said with a shrug. "Come on, we'll keep talking when we get there. Grab on." Julie and Runo put their hands on Alice's shoulders, as did Mira and Dan. The rest of the people gathered latched onto them, and Alice activated her card, warping all of them to the beach.

The waves crashed rhythmically and loudly after the silence of the hotel. The scent of salt filled the air, and moonlight danced upon the surface of the water. Foam flew up from the crashing waves, and the sea spray sent small, dazzling moon rainbows everywhere. The group materialized there instantly, and Alice lowered her card. All of them were silent for a moment, taking in the tranquility of the beach.

Runo and Dan moved forward, looking out at the ocean with wide, bright eyes. The moon reflected in their eyes, making them glitter. The full moon was so bright that it caused the sand to look silver, and also made Runo's skin look like beautifully sculpted marble. The same was the case with Alice, and Lync started to blush. Alice caught him looking at her, but she didn't shoot him a glare this time. She lowered the arm that held her card and continued to watch him out of the corner of her eye, noticing the blush on his face. She dared to wonder if the Ventus brawler liked her.

Dan and Runo sat down on the sand, Runo leaning on Dan's chest as he put his arms around her. It was a little chilly down on the beach, and Runo snuggled up to his warmth gratefully. The rest of them sat down, too, forming something similar to a circle.

"Should we go back for him?" Julie asked, spinning the wheels on her roller blades.

"I think we should," Dan said. Runo looked up at him, taking in his determined face, the way his jaw was set. He always got that look right before a battle, just like that battle with Masquerade that ripped him away from her. It was that day that she realized she loved him. A wound had been made in her heart that day, slicing through her chest and shattering her whole entire world. She had been in shock. She had been angry. And then... then the reality of the situation had set in. She thought she would never have the chance to speak to him again. To feel the warmth of his breath on her face, even if it was just when he was yelling at her in another one of their silly arguments.

"Dan, you need to think strategically," Ace said. "Hydron knew that we would go to Omicron Tower. He can probably predict that we'll go back and try to get Shun back."

"He's right, you know," Gus said. "Hydron is good at anticipating his opponent's moves. He may not battle, but he isn't crown prince for nothing. Who do you think it was that decided Shadow should go and try to keep Runo from going through that dimensional gate?"

"You mean that was him?" Baron gasped. Runo and Dan stared at Gus with wide eyes and slightly parted lips, then they glanced at each other.

"It's bad enough he kidnapped her," Dan muttered. "This dude seems really determined to tick me off. And we all know that's not a good idea."

"And he knows it, too, Dan," Mira said. They all looked at her and she looked up at him, eyes narrowed in thought. "Dan, when you get get like this, you tend to act rashly."

"You know, she's right, Dan," Runo realized. "When you get mad, you say things you don't really mean. You just act. You don't think."

"Really? Name one time," Dan said, looking down at her. She looked at him with a "I can't believe you asked me that" look on her face.

"Uh, how about when you challenged Masquerade in my cafe?" Dan sweat-dropped.

"That- that doesn't count! He wasn't even there!"

"Actually, he kinda was," Marucho said. "He and Alice are the same person. Alice was there with us." Dan slapped his head.

"Hey, if you keep doing that you'll loose brain cells," Shadow laughed.

"You shouldn't be talking, you know that? After you fell off that ship and landed with your head in the ground?" Mylene muttered. Shadow looked at her and made a face, looking hurt. She rolled her eyes at him, "Knock it off." He shrugged, his face returning to normal. "Look, I'm not sure about going back to get Shun back. I think that he'd be able to hold his own in a battle or on his own. He took me out when I was battling Marucho without any difficulty," she continued.

Runo and the others were silent. After a moment of the awkward lack of words, Runo shouted out, "Ugh! This is so weird! It's so weird working together with your enemies!"

"You said it," Julie agreed. Mira and Alice nodded and Mylene sighed.

"To tell the truth, Dan," Marucho said, adjusting his glasses, "I don't think that we should go after Shun either. I mean, he can take care of himself. He's a ninja. His grandpa trained him pretty well, believe me."

"Huh?" Dan asked. Runo sighed.

"You weren't there when we infiltrated his house. Marucho and I were just walking down the hallway and then-"

"And then a whole bunch of sticks came flying out of the walls!" Preyas interrupted. "They ran and tripped and then a pit opened and they jumped across and then got tangled in net. Then the creepy old dude tried to attack us with a stick!"

"Hey, Preyas, that was rude," Elfin protested.

"I know, right?" Preyas exclaimed.

"You know, I don't think that's quite what he meant," Marucho said, sweat-dropping.

"Come on, guys," Dan said. "We can't just leave him there!"

"Shun told us to, Dan," Alice said softly. They all looked at her, Dan's eyes wide. "He told us to go. To leave him there."

"Well he was fighting Hydron, wasn't he?" Dan asked. "He probably just wanted you guys to get back safely. If he let Hydron go, he would have jumped with you. And he did that. Which means that it's safe to go back and get him!"

"But how can we go back and get him," Baron asked, "if we don't even know where he is?" Dan stared at him, unable to come up with an answer.

"Exactly," Ace said. "Look, I'm sorry, but it looks like we're gonna have to leave him there until he can tell us that its safe to come get him."

"They're right, you know Dan," Drago said quietly. Dan looked at Drago and glared at him.

"Look this is my best friend! I didn't abandon Runo when Hydron kidnapped her, and I'm not going to abandon Shun where he could be captured at any minute! Sure, he may be a ninja, but do you really think he'll stand a chance against armed guards? Come on, Runo," Dan said, standing up. Runo looked at all of the others, then back at Dan, and sighed.

"Coming," she said, walking over to him. She grabbed his hand and looked back at Mira and the others. "Look, I feel kinda bad about leaving Shun there, too. I mean, he's one of the original Brawlers. Marucho and I went through a lot to get him to join us- namely almost getting beaten up by an old man with a wooden stick," she said, making a face at that thought. "But Dan went there and fought Shun, and after a while we all managed to get him to come and join us. Alice, you helped with that, too. You too, Marucho, Julie." Julie, Marucho, and Alice were silent, looking at their feet awkwardly. She narrowed her eyes at them. "We're not going to let that get thrown away. We have to rescue Shun, just like we made a commitment to rescuing Spectra. Dan and I are gonna go help. If you wanna come be my guest." Runo closed her eyes, holding tightly to Dan's wrist, and concentrated. The brawlers looked away, and the next second Dan and Runo were gone.

Runo opened her eyes and found herself on a rooftop. She let go of Dan's wrist and looked around, trying to see through the darkness. Both of them had left their Bakugan behind, and it was just them. If they were challenged to a battle, they'd have to refuse, and Dan didn't want to called a coward.

"Where are we?" Dan asked Runo. She glanced around again.

"No clue. Somewhere on Vestal." Dan sighed, then caught sight of something strange. He started over to it and Runo blinked, hearing his footfalls. "Dan?"

"Hey, Runo, look at this!" Dan gasped, realizing what he was staring at. Runo came over to him and looked over his shoulder at the remains of the cage-like device that Gus had used to trap them. She blinked at it.

"What's that thing doing here?" she asked.

"Beats me," Dan said. "Wait, didn't Mira and the others say that Hydron imprisoned them in this?"

"Yeah I think she did," Runo confirmed. "So it was here that they fought Hydron..."

"So glad you could join the party," a sly voice called out. Runo and Dan jumped, whirling around. There stood Hydron, glaring them and twirling a piece of hair in between his fingers.

"Hydron!" Dan growled. Hydron smirked and Runo took a nervous step back. Hydron looked at her and his smirk turned into a glare.

"You managed to get away. Don't be so sure that that will happen again."

"Wh-what?" Runo gasped, shocked. She thought her issues with this creep were over when Dan rescued her in the snowstorm! Apparently she was wrong.. Dan was mad. No, beyond mad. He was _furious_. How _dare_ Hydron make so much of a _hint_ that he'd try to capture Runo again! Dan clenched his fists and teeth, moving in front of Runo.

"Don't you _dare_ lay a hand on Runo!" Dan growled. Runo glared at Dan.

"I can handle him myself-"

"Runo I don't think it's a good idea to make him any angrier," a voice said, and a dark figure dropped down next to her. Runo gasped and Dan glanced back. Hydron's eyes widened.

"Y-you!"

Shun stood up from his crouching position, glaring at Hydron.

"Shun!" Dan cried.

"Shun," Runo sighed. "Okay good, we can go back now."

"You're not going anywhere!" Hydron shouted, tossing something at their feet. Runo and the others instinctively jumped backward, and then Runo gasped as her foot was caught in the growing whirlpool of black. Runo struggled to pull her foot free, but was like struggling against quicksand. The more she struggled, the faster she sank. The same was the case with Dan and Shun, but Dan suddenly stumbled back, his foot free.

"Runo!" he shouted, his wings appearing. Runo reached for his hand as he reached out for hers, and then Shun was free. He crawled out of the portal, and then reached for Runo's other hand. Both boys held onto her arms with strong, iron grips. Runo's legs were in the port up to her knees, and she could feet the dark portal below her trying desperately to pull her down. She quickly called upon the tingling sensation in her back, her glowing wings appearing. She flapped wildly, and yet it seemed to do nothing to get her out of the portal.

Hydron was laughing. His laugh was scary, the laugh of a sadistic person. He sounded crazy, Runo realized. She grimaced, feeling the portal give a little bit. It stung as the tendrils of darkness that had been encasing her feet peeled away slightly, like a band-aid.

"You'll never get her out!" Hydron called, a crazy grin on his face. "It's foolproof! There's no way to get free, once you get caught!"

"Shut up," Dan hissed, pulling as hard as he could on Runo's arms. She grimaced. Shun's feet slipped slightly, and he quickly adjusted his stance to something more solid. More tendrils came loose and Runo could feel her legs coming free.

"Runo, hang on," Shun gritted his teeth. He and Dan's hands were sweaty, and Runo's were becoming slick as well from holding onto their wrists.

"Can you hover a little while we wipe our hands?" Dan panted. Runo nodded, focusing on gaining altitude. Dan let go for a second, quickly wiping his hands on his pants, then grabbing her forearm again. Shun did the same thing, and Runo could feel her legs sink back a little.

"Seriously, what is it with you and the dimensional ports?" Dan grunted. Runo didn't answer, too scared to come up with a snappy, rude remark. Dan noticed and pulled harder, murmuring an apology when he earned a pained yelp from Runo. "Come on, don't you have any ideas on getting out?"

"Not a clue," Runo whispered. And then, as suddenly as she had gotten sucked in, she was free! The three of them gasped, topping over. Dan and Runo ended up on top of each other, Dan's head lying on Shun's chest. Shun had managed to avoid whacking his head on the roof, and the three laid there for a moment, groaning.

Hydron's laughing face quickly darkened, becoming angered and showing tints of dark, pure hatred, as dark and pure as freshly made Swiss chocolate. Hydron's fists opened and closed on the empty air, as if he were searching for a weapon to strike the group with. That girl had eluded him _again_! How _dare_ she resist him! And the two boys... Oh they would pay dearly. He would be sure of that.

Dan and Runo sighed, Runo sitting up and Dan following suit. Shun had already stood and was looking around, his eyes locked on Hydron's white form. The boy was hunched over, looking either tired or embarrassed. Dan helped Runo up and the two hovered in the air a little above the ground, a ball of light shining in Runo's hand and a small flame in Dan's. Wind swirled around Shun, and the trio glared at Hydron, who now straightened.

The look of such pure, untainted hatred that was Hydron's face shocked the three Battle Brawlers, making them blink in surprise. The boy's teeth were visible and he was glaring at them, his eyes little more than tiny purple slits. He was shaking in his rage, and Runo could feel fear rising in her. Not that she'd ever show it to Dan or Shun, or Hydron most of all! She clenched her jaw and fists, glaring back at Hydron.

"You fools! You will pay for defying me!" Hydron howled. Shun and Dan stood protectively in front of Runo, who didn't make a complaint about it.

"You don't scare us!" Dan shouted. Shun nodded and Hydron seemed to get even angrier(**if that's even possible...**).

"You... you... AGH! You will pay, I promise you," Hydron hissed, then turned and jumped off the building. Dan and company gasped, running to the edge of the building, arriving in time to see a white, flying limo rise up above them. Hydron stood on the roof of it, his arms crossed. He didn't look back at them. Then, the limo flew away from them, shooting away into the darkness.

The trio stood there for a few moments, trying to make sense of the events that had just occurred. Runo's, no, all of their near-deaths, Hydron's vow of vengeance, Shun's return, Hydron's showy exit. The three of them were on sensory overload after the day that they had just had, and processing all of this would take some time.

Runo yawned, rubbing her eyes(**like what I'm doing now**). Dan and Shun looked at her, not exactly worried or concerned, but a little... protective, of her. After all, she was a good friend of Shun's, and Dan's girlfriend. Runo looked at the two of them, then her eyes rested on Dan. "Look, as soon as we get there, I swear I'm gonna pass out," she said around a yawn. "I'm at the limit of my energy, and this last transport will use up all of it. so... when I wake up I'm gonna feel like I've got a major hangover."

"Okay, two things," Dan said. "One, how do you know what a hangover even feels like? And two, how did you figure that out?"

"Lets just say that when you spend an hour with Marucho you learn a lot more than you expect to," Runo said. She leaned against Dan's chest and he wrapped his arms around her, then Shun rested his hand on Dan's shoulder. Runo closed her eyes, struggling not to fall into slumber right then and there. She concentrated, and then they were being transported, and darkness closed in on her.

"**Okay, pretty short chapter," Breezy says.**

"**Yep," Fabia says. Runo is passed out on the couch.**

"**Well I guess that syphened her energy," Breezyfeather says.**

"**Yep," says Ren. "Uh... about that idea you had..."**

"**Hush! I have to finish this story first!"**

"**Okay okay! Just finish planning it out already!"**

"**I'm working on that! Along with a book report due on Thursday, a Spanish project that I need poster board for due on Wednesday, my sister's birthday tomorrow, song presentations going on all next week in Music Class, other ideas I have for stories that AREN'T fanfictions, this fanfiction, Dan and Runo's LegendProphecy, Drago's Dilemma, and, last but not least, The Most Unlikely Aliance!"**

"**Whoa you have a lot to do!" Dan exclaims.**

"**And I have to study for a quiz on Tuesday..."**

"**OKAY WE GET IT!" Mason yells.**

**Sorry it's short, but I just really couldn't think of anything else to put in this chapter without making it 12 pages, and I have so much other stuff to do lately that I just didn't have the time to make it longer than this... sorry, I promise that the next update(which will probably be next Friday or something) will be better!**

**And please review. The more reviews I get the faster I update. Thanks to all of you that review every chapter of mine, especially Forever-Forgotten22 and RunoRulz, and PussyCatMewMew.**

**The button is right there! :)**


	8. Enigmas In Prison

**Breezyfeather: I think this chapter will be done in Keith's PoV.**

**Keith: That will be an interesting chapter then. And haven't I told you to call me Spectra?**

**Breezyfeather: I'm the author. I call you what I want.**

**Keith: -.-**

**Breezyfeather: Oh get over it.**

***Authors Note***

**yeah, I decided not to do the whole "write out" the intro and outros. I've been talking with a few people on fanfiction and I decided that this was much easier. Anyway, on with the story!**

Keith lay on the cot in his room, thinking. He had had a lot of time to do that lately, what with being locked up and whatnot. Ren had ordered that Keith be treated like a high-security criminal, and therefore Keith was not allowed out of his cell at all, unlike the other prisoners. But and then again, Keith's cell couldn't really be considered a cell.

Ren had had him moved into a large, suite like room after Runo and Shun had broken in. It was well furnished, with a king sized bed and a wardrobe, and a bathroom. The walls were painted black and purple, the colors of Darkus, and there was a banner with the Darkus symbol on it on one wall. The wardrobe was black and there was a dresser on the opposite wall, and a closet next to the door to the bathroom. The bathroom had a mirror over the sink and a stand-only shower, no bathtub, and the floor was made of cold black and white tile. Keith had to admit that the room was nice, and his pillows were indeed soft. However, he didn't have this room to himself. He had to share it with Ren.

Ren had had him moved to this room after Runo and Shun had infiltrated the prison. Now, Ren watched him, and there were two armed guards on the other side of the door to the room(which was made of metal, Keith had discovered). There was a window, and Keith had looked at it with soaring hopes for a fleeting moment, but then Ren had told him that he was three stories off the ground, that the window itself had a security system installed, and that if he touched the windowpane he would be shocked with a few thousands volts of electricity. So, Keith hadn't touched it.

On the other hand, there was a fire alarm lever on the wall next to the bathroom. It had been hidden behind the wardrobe, and Ren must have thought that Keith was stupid enough to overlook such a thing that was also covered in black fabric to make it look like the fabric were the wall. But no. Keith was crafty enough to know that if Ren was an important enough figure to have such well furnished quarters in a prison, there would be some sort of alarm system to alert someone if there were a problem. Now Keith was waiting for the right moment to pull that switch, just as Runo had.

Runo. He had learned a lot from that clever girl, who had escaped from him with the tactic he planned to use, such as never to underestimate the opponent. Such an easy mistake to make, underestimating your opponent. Ren had done just the same thing by hiding the fire alarm like that. Keith would get back at Ren another time, after he had escaped from this prison.

Keith turned his head to look at the spot where the alarm was hidden. It would be so easy, so simple, to pull that alarm right now. To alert everyone in the prison that something was wrong, something that had to be dealt with right then and there. But, the guards outside the door would come running, and there would be no way for Keith to get down without breaking his neck. He didn't have his Gauntlet, so he couldn't stop time and have Helios lower him to the ground. There wasn't a fire ladder in the room(to his knowledge), and if he so much as touched the window he'd get electrocuted.

Keith sat up, glancing at the darkening window behind him. His cot was on the floor in front of Ren's bed, so the door was in front of him, the bathroom and closet doors to his right, and the window was behind him. Keith sighed, and Helios floated up in front of his face. "Spectra," he said, "what should we do?" Keith looked out the window, at the high flying clouds, wistfully.

"I guess we wait," he said. "The Brawlers probably already called up Mira and the Resistance. They'll be able to get us out of here."

"You sound like you are relying on them," Helios growled. Keith looked at him, narrowing his eyes curiously. "We can get out of here on our own, Spectra! Have a little faith, would ya?"

"Sorry, but with Ren around I'm not exactly keen to try running," Keith said. "He would catch me before I even got down the stairs and you know it."

"Then let's challenge him to a brawl!" Helios suggested, clearly bloodthirsty. "I'm just itching for a fight."

"Patience, Helios. We're not strong enough to fight them right now. We'll fight him after we get outta here," Keith said.

"I hate to break it to you, Spectra," a voice said, "but you're not escaping from here any time soon." Keith turned back so that he was facing the door, which opened now, and the owner of the raspy voice walked in. The dark skinned, slightly pointy eared boy stepped into the threshold leisurely, his arms clasped behind his back. He had a form fitting purple shirt on and gray pants, and a purple cape was draped over his shoulders. The metal door closed automatically behind him and Keith rested his forearm on his right knee, which was now bent in front of his chest while his other leg was stretched out in front of him. Keith didn't exactly glare at Hydron, but did give him a level, narrow eyed look that could easily be described as unwelcoming.

"Is it that late already?" Keith asked coolly. Ren blinked at the Pyrus brawler. "I don't seem to recall getting dinner."

"Don't try to lie to me, Spectra," Ren said. "I watched as Zenet gave you your dinner." Keith was silent for a moment, seeing that his plan had failed. Ren smirked. "I honestly thought that you would have a better tactic for escaping from here. After all, I seem to recall that you captured that human girl a few times, and she escaped from you. One would think that you, of all people, Spectra, would have learned something about the art of escape." Keith was silent for a few moments, and Ren walked over to his bed and sat down.

"Keith."

"Excuse me?"

"Call me Keith. I'm not Spectra unless I'm free, with my Gauntlet, and with my mask."

"Fine. Keith then," Ren said. Keith glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, mildly surprised that Ren had decided to heed his words. He didn't show it, of course, as a master of the emotionless guise.

"Ren," Linehalt said. Keith glanced at the Darkus Bakugan who floated over Ren's shoulder. Keith knew that Bakugan was very powerful, and that Helios wasn't nearly as powerful. He had a long way to go before he'd be able to challenge this brawler. Dan would be his opponent first, and once he beat Dan, he'd take on Ren. Then Helios would the the Ultimate Bakugan.

"I know, Linehalt," Ren whispered, trying to hide this conversation from Keith. But Keith, being the leader of the Vexos, had developed an acute sense of hearing once he figured out that deception could lurk anywhere, even in the depths of his own organization.

"Then why do you keep putting it off?" Linehalt hissed. Ren didn't answer right away, hesitating. He masked it by looking at his reflection in the mirror. "The Emperor wants us to return soon, he said a few more months at the most."

"I know," Ren murmured. "But the prince has my contract until we defeat the Brawlers. The Emperor won't grant us freedom if we disobey that contract." Keith narrowed his eyes at his knee, his hair masking his face.

"He won't be in control of us if-" Linehalt started, but Ren turned on him.

"No Linehalt! We agreed we wouldn't speak about this! We stick to the plan, got it?" Keith contemplated this exchange between Bakguan and brawler. He hadn't heart Linehalt or Ren right yet, and Keith knew that something must be up. Keith noticed that the boy had kept his voice deliberately and carefully lowered, so he pretended not to have heard, which Helios did, too. They both knew that things wouldn't go well if Ren found out they had overheard their conversation.

Ren turned around, looking tense, and looked at Keith. Keith was looking out the window at the sky again, Helios floating next to his shoulder. Ren followed his gaze, catching sight of a plane soaring through the sky. He thought it looked kind of strange, and more like a giant flying box with wings than a plane. He narrowed his eyes, trying to make out the details. It seemed to be orange, but that was all that he could make out for the distance of the plane.

It was getting dark, and it was only about four o'clock. Keith noticed the rapidly darkening sky and sighed, looking back in the room. He glanced at Ren, who was still looking out the window. He couldn't quite describe the boy's face, and was a little puzzled at the expression on it. Almost... exhilaration. Awe. Was that longing, hidden in his eyes? Keith wondered. Ren's golden eyes were wide with what looked like awe and desperation, and he stared at the sky as if he had never seen it before.

"Keith?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know what makes this sky blue?" he asked. Keith blinked in confusion.

"I have a general idea. Why?"

"Can you tell me why?" Ren asked, his eyes not leaving the violet-turning sky. Keith stared at him and followed his gaze.

"Well, technically, Earth's sky isn't blue," Keith said carefully. Ren glanced at him, his eyes wide with curiosity. "It's actually violet. Humans and- human eyesight is just barely able to perceive light at such a short wavelength."

"So, hu- _we_ don't see the violet color?" Ren asked. Keith shook his head no.

"The sky is blue because of Rayleigh Scattering," Keith continued, calling up a memory of learning in school. "It causes solar radiation to scatter in the sky, forming diffuse sky radiation, which is the remaining solar light randomly scattered in the atmosphere by hitting various molecules of light."(**Just so that everyone knows, I DID NOT COME UP WITH THAT MYSLEF. I looked that up on the internet at this link: **.)

"Oh," Ren said. He looked away from the sky and at the mirror, appearing a little surprised when he realized he looked like a five year old introduced to a butterfly or a lightning bug. He quickly composed himself and sat down on the bed in a more sophisticate manner(he had been kneeling).

"What time is it?" Keith asked casually. Ren looked at his watch.

"Six. Why are you concerned?" Keith shrugged, standing up and stretching.

"I'm gonna take a shower," he said. "Got shampoo?"

"Yeah, it's in there," Ren responded. The two were almost like roommates after they got rid of their hostility for the other, like when Ren came into the room for the first time at night. After that, the two became... not exactly brothers, but new friends, almost. They weren't outright hostile, but they weren't at the point of cracking a joke every few seconds. Keith felt a sort of kinship with Ren, and Ren felt the same way about Keith, despite their differences and the fact that Ren was keeping Keith as a prisoner. They were polite and respected each other, and that was all that mattered.

Helios followed Keith into the bathroom and Ren called out. "Wait a sec." Keith turned and caught the shirt that Ren tossed, and the pair of shorts and boxers. "You might was well change," Ren said with a shrug. " It's supposed to be really hot tomorrow and I'm never sure if the air conditioner is gonna break. I'll have those clothes washed."

"Thanks," Keith said curtly, closing the bathroom door. He turned the water on hot and placed the clothes on the toilet seat. He stripped and stepped into the shower, closing the glass shower door behind him. Helios hung outside the shower, not wanting to get his mechanical parts wet and risk short circuiting.

Keith closed his eyes as the hot water flowed over his skin, relaxing his taut muscles. His air fell and it covered his eyes(and most of his shoulders and back for that matter). He stood there for a little while, letting the water soothe him, allowing himself to forget that he was a captive. It was easy to forget since Ren wasn't being cruel to him, and that made him think about how he had acted toward Runo.

He had been cruel to her, he realized. He hadn't allowed her any freedom. He had treated her without respect, and probably scared her a lot. He frowned, reaching for the shampoo. Why had he acted that way? The girl hadn't done anything to him. He had hurt her... he paused in lathering his hair, his hand resting on his forehead. He could feel a headache coming on, but he didn't understand why. Maybe it was the stress of being a prisoner. He wouldn't know, since this was his first, and hopefully last, time.

He straightened up and let the water rinse the shampoo out of his hair, then searched for the conditioner(**yes he uses conditioner**). He reached for it and gasped, sinking to his knees. He clutched his head in pain; the headache he had had suddenly reaching extremes. He wondered, faintly, if he was having a stroke. He didn't hear Helios's repeated cry of concern, and then the door to the bathroom banged open.

Ren saw the teenager leaning against the shower wall, clutching his head in agony. Ren didn't think about the fact that the water was running, he just jumped forward and yanked the shower door open. Keith didn't respond, and his knuckles were white from clutching his head. Ren didn't care about the hot water soaking his shirt, or about how hot the water actually was. He pushed his now soaking wet hair out of his eyes and grabbed Keith's shoulders.

"Keith! Keith, can you hear me?" he shouted. Keith groaned, bending forward. Ren gritted his teeth and pushed his hair out of his eyes again. "Keith, listen to me. I need you to stand up and walk out of the shower. I'm going to get you back into my room and then I'm gonna call for help, okay? But I need you to walk out of the shower." Keith hissed something that sounded like, "Fine", but Ren couldn't be sure. He helped the teen to his feet and supported him as he led Keith out of the shower. "Step up," Ren said, and Keith did so. His movements were sluggish and pain filled, though, so it took longer than Ren thought it would. He grabbed a towel and put it on Keith's shoulder, then they carefully stepped into Ren's room. Helios floated next to Keith, trying to talk to him, while Linehalt hovered patiently over Ren's shoulder.

Ren somehow helped Keith over to his own bed and spread the towel under him, then helped him to lie down. Ren then ducked into the bathroom and grabbed another towel, draping it over Keith's body. He began to reach for the phone, but Helios stopped him. "No, you don't need to call for help!" he cautioned. Ren's fingers paused and he looked at the cyborg Pyrus Bakugan.

"What do you mean? He could be having a stroke for all I know-"

"Spe- Keith gets that way if he takes off his mask for too long," Helios explained, sounding angry instead of nervous like he really was. "If he takes it off for too long, then he'll get really bad headaches until he puts it back on. The only way to stop it is to gradually have him take it off, and that will completely erase it's influence on him. Get his mask and let him wear it until he goes to bed, and he'll be fine for a while."

"That sounds... pretty weird," Ren said. "But... if you say so." He dialed a number on the phone and told them to bring up the hawk-like mask that Spectra had had on when they arrested him. The guard didn't ask for a reason why, instead answered with a "Right away, Sir", and appeared at the door less than two minutes later.

"Thank you," Ren said, then closed the door. He turned back to Keith and wiped his face off with a towel before putting the mask on him. The mechanical eye glowed red and the boy's lips parted, then he gasped and the eye turned blue. Spectra sat up, bracing one hand against the bed and the other falling across his lap. He turned his head toward Ren and touched his own cheek, then looked at Helios.

"You better?" Ren asked.

"I'm fine," Spectra said gruffly. He glanced around, then wrapped a towel around his waist and started into the bathroom.

"You're welcome," Linehalt said. Helios turned toward them.

"Thanks," he said bluntly, then followed Spectra into the bathroom where he got dressed.

"Well that was..." Ren trailed off.

"Weird?" Linehalt suggested.

"That's putting it lightly," Ren sighed.

**Breezyfeather: Wow, right on schedule!**

**Dan: Huh?**

**Keith: She said that she'd update next Friday or something.**

**Dan: Hm.**

**Runo: (riffling through Breezy's idea book) Hm... Interesting new fanfic idea.**

**Dan: Does it concern me?**

**Runo: Big time, smart guy.**

**Dan: Let me see!**

**Runo: No way! You'll break it!**

**Dan: how do you break a notebook?(snatches book. A ripping sound is heard)**

**Runo: Like that.**

**Dan: 0.0'**

**Runo: I sugesst you run.**

**Breezyfeather: DAN KUSO! YOU ARE SO DEAD!**

**Dan: (runs like his butt is on fire)**

**Reviews? I'll give you a cookie!**


	9. Chaos

**Breezyfeather: And now for the next chapter! The actual name is in the form of a joke. What do you get when you put the Vexos, the Resistance, and Runo, Julie and Alice in a plane together?**

**Answer: Chaos. Lots and lots of chaos.**

**Dan: I'm pretty sure that they figured that out when they clicked on the link to the story!**

**Breezyfeather: Quiet.**

**THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO ALWAYS REVIEWS! Getting reviews is like candy... FOR MY SOUL!**

**Shun: I think she's finally lost it**

**Breezyfeather: WHAT DID YOU SAY? (Gets golf club)**

**Shun and Dan: ().() AHHHHH!**

**Breezyfeather: -_- whimps... well of course publishing the chapter won't work unless I upload the document first! Gah!**

**Ren: Fail...**

**Breezy: Mind your own business.**

Dan stretched, yawning at the same time. It had been a long flight, and to tell the truth, he didn't understand why Runo or Alice couldn't have teleported all of them. When he voiced this thought to her, she just hit him in the head with the lamp that was on the bedside table, causing it to shatter.

"OW!"

"WERE YOU NOT THERE LAST NIGHT YOU IDIOT!" Runo screeched.

Dan left the room holding his head. "Next time you might want to ask someone else that question," Drago said, the smile evident in his voice.

"Oh, who asked you?" Dan grumbled. They were on Marucho's plane, and they had landed the night before in San Diego California. Dan was sharing a room with Shun, Gus, Ace and Shadow, Runo sharing with Julie, Alice, Mira and Mylene, while Marucho shared with Volt, Barron and Lync. They all had agreed to a temporary peace treaty, and they didn't need paper to finalize it. The Brawlers knew that it would be trouble if Keith was discovered as a Vestal, and the Vexos just wanted to get back to New Vestroia so that they could be rivals again. They made sure to be polite, otherwise things might not work out.

"Dan, what the heck happened?" Lync asked, taking in the blood on Dan's head.

"Yeah, I think I'd like to know that, too," Ace said, stopping in the kitchen to get a glass of water.

"Runo hit me with the lamp," he muttered, walking past them in search of he first aid kit. Ace choked on his water, Lync snickered and Dan sighed, glancing around the kitchen. "Where's the first aid kit?"

"I dunno," Lync said, walking away.

"Don't look at me," Ace coughed.

"You should ask Alice... actually, I'll ask her." Lync walked away to look for Alice and Dan rolled his eyes.

"How much you wanna bet that he likes her?" Ace smirked after being hit in the back by Dan a few times.

"Huh? What makes you say that?" Dan asked.

"No wonder Runo says you're clueless," Julie grinned, appearing behind him. Dan jumped and whirled around, catching sight of a smirking Julie. Ace blinked and ducked out of the room.

"Ah! Julie! How- why-?"

"I've been hanging around Shun and learning how to be quiet," Julie shrugged. Dan stared at her. "Plus I oiled my skates earlier. So, you're looking for the first aid kit?"

"Yeah, do you know where it is?" Julie looked at Dan's forehead, noticing the blood that was slowly trailing down it. She sighed.

"Did Runo hit you with the lamp?"

"Yeah."

"You really shouldn't ask her stupid questions."

"What makes you think that I did that?"

"Oh please Dan," Julie made a face at him. "You really seem to forget that I've been staying at her house, and I'm her BFF, Mr. Bigshot! She's chased away customers because of something stupid that I've said. Once she threw an apple at my head."

"Wow," Dan said.

"And you saying stupid things around her that you don't think through- especially if she has a weapon nearby- will probably result in your death at some point or another," Julie said with a grin. Dan stared at her and slowly backed away.

"Uh... okay..."

"Dan, Alice said that the First Aid Kit is above the fridge," Lync said, reentering the room with a long face. There was a red mark on his cheek. "What is a fridge, anyway?"

"Okay what did you do this time to make her mad?" Julie asked. "And it's this thing." She pointed at the refrigerator.

"All I did was ask her where the First Aid kit was!" Lync said defensively. "Then she asked me why and I told her that Runo hit Dan in the head with a lamp and she called me a liar and slapped me."

"I think that you have just learned that lying to Alice is not a good idea." The grin was evident in Drago's voice.

"Who asked you?" Lync snapped, stomping out of the room.

"That was referring to when he betrayed her when we were gonna go to New Vestroia with you, right?" Julie asked.

"I think," Dan said, reaching up to the top of the refrigerator. He grimaced to keep the drop of blood out of his eye, and then Alice came in. She glanced at the tail of Lync's green cape as it disappeared around the corner, then at Dan, who looked mildly annoyed at his failed attempts of grabbing the First Aid Kit. Alice stared at the drop of blood on his eyelid and the criss-crossing trails of blood that went down his forehead, then her face fell.

"Oh... he was telling the truth..."

"Uh, yeah," Dan muttered. She looked guilty and hesitated for a moment, torn between helping Dan and going after Lync to apologize. Dan noticed this and groaned. "Just go apologize already. If Runo hears you helped me she'll hit me again." Alice blinked at him, then dashed after Lync.

"Lync, wait!" Julie rolled her eyes and skated over to the top of the fridge, snatching the red First Aid Kit easily. Dan gave her an annoyed look as she skidded to a halt a few feet from him.

"Oh please, like you could have grabbed it," she said with a grin. Dan yawned, rubbing the drop of blood from his eye without meaning to. He looked at his knuckle stupidly and groaned, muttering something that Julie couldn't hear under his breath. It had been a rough night after all of the chaos started by Julie and Alice's decision to go get Mira, Ace, and Baron. Baron and Mira were still sleeping, although Dan was fairly sure that after Runo hit Dan in the head and yelled Mira and Baron were awake. Now it was around 2:00 in the afternoon, and all of the Vexos were awake and waiting to leave.

Runo stumbled into the room, hanging onto the wall for support. She gritted her teeth and tried to make her wings appear, but instead of appearing solidly like they should have, they flickered and looked almost static-like. She sighed, stumbling forward and leaving the safety of the wall. Dan shot to his feet and to her side, grabbing her before she fell. She looked up at him tiredly and squinted at the cut on his head. His hair stuck together from the blood and she grimaced. "Sorry about the lamp," she mumbled.

"You need to go back to bed, right now," Dan told her, picking her up bridal style. She rested her head on his shoulder and curled up to his body heat, closing her eyes.

"But I don't wanna sleep anymore..."

"Just a few more hours of sleep and you'll be good to go," Dan promised.

"No..."

"Runo, you're going back to bed. Now." Dan carried her out of the room, leaving Julie and the First Aid kit behind. Blood dripped down from the wound on his head and he closed one eye again to keep his vision from turning pink. Dan passed Mira and Mylene having a conversation, and Shadow tormenting Ace, who grabbed his tongue, which slipped out of his grip and caused Shadow to chase Ace from the room. Dan nearly dropped Runo when Ace sprinted by him and Shadow followed, neither calling an apology back. Runo and Dan stared after them as they headed in the direction of the plane's exit, then Dan shrugged and continued. In the room they walked by next, Dan realized that Gus was giving Lync advice on girls.

"Mind if you give me a few tips?" Dan called with a goofy grin. Runo hit him again and he yelped. Gus and Lync stared at him, then laughed while Dan groaned, continuing toward Runo's room. Ace stomped by them and Dan blinked at him, taking in his ruffled appearance and how he had a few fresh cuts on his face.

"What happened to you?" he asked.

"Shadow Prove beat me in a brawl," he grumbled, walking through a doorway and slamming the door.

"That's the bathroom," Dan called.

"I don't care," came his reply. Dan stared at the door, then walked forward again, shaking his head.

"This is weird," Runo whispered.

"You're telling me," Dan exclaimed. They reached Runo's room and he slid the door open with his foot, walking in and resting Runo on her bed. She closed her eyes and was asleep in an instant, and Dan realized that there was still broken glass on the ground. He shook his head, wiping the blood off his eyelid and forehead.

"Julie sure is right about watching my tongue," Dan sighed. "I'm gonna go get a band aid."

"Okay Dan. I have to speak with Tigrerra," Drago told him. Dan started to ask why, thought better of it, and left the room. Dan could hear Drago chuckle as he slid the door shut and sighed, walking back to the kitchen.

Once there, he found Mira and Mylene rummaging through the fridge, looking for something to drink. "What's up?" Dan asked. Mira turned and grinned at him, then her face fell when she took in the blood on his face.

"I woke up when Runo hit you with the lamp," she said, "but I didn't think you'd bleed that much."

"Well she flung the shade across the room and it hit me," Mylene exclaimed. "I'm not surprised."

"Just don't ever make a stupid comment around her," Dan sighed, grabbing a paper towel and wetting it. "Do you have a mirror?"

"Wow. Never expected Mr. Bigshot Dan to ask for a mirror," Shadow laughed.

"Oh, go away," Dan muttered, glaring at him. He stared at him in shock then laughed again.

"I guess that's the yell I heard!"

"Go ask Gus and you'll understand what happened," Dan said darkly, taking the mirror that Mira offered. He cleared the blood off of his head and was able to see the wound, and with a grimace he realized that there was still glass in it.

"This is gonna take more than a band-aid," he muttered, putting down the First Aid Kit. He sighed, pulling a shard of glass free. He gasped in pain and grimaced, and opened his eyes to find blood running down the side of his face. "Well that's just great," he grumbled, grabbing another paper towel and holding it to his forehead. He grimaced as he put pressure on the other shards of glass and caught sight of Mira and Mylene watching him, looking disgusted. Shadow had disappeared and Dan sighed.

"I think I need a doctor," he stated.

"You think?" Mira questioned.

"Fine, I need a doctor," Dan snapped.

"Someone's grouchy," Volt observed. Dan groaned and stormed out of the room, the towel on his forehead already soaked through with blood in search of Marucho.

"Marucho!"

"Yeah Da- whoa what happened?" Marucho gasped. Dan gave him an irritated look and he sweat-dropped. "I guess you're who I heard yell after glass broke?"

"You guess? She hit me in the head with the lamp!"

"You know, I wouldn't be surprised if you broke up with her after that," Baron commented. Dan groaned, then gave up.

"Know where I can find a doctor? There's a lot of glass in the cut," Dan mumbled.

"You know, I think you're forgetting that Shun has a medical license," Alice said, walking up. Dan stared at her, then gasped as he realized that blood was running down his arm.

"I think you might wanna talk to him- or call an ambulance," Julie gasped.

"AGH TOO MANY PEOPLE!" Dan shouted. "SHUN!"

"What?" Shun asked, appearing. Dan and the others gasped, then Shun noticed the blood all over Dan's face. "What happ- Runo?"

"You didn't even have to ask," Dan muttered. "Can you help? She hit me with a lamp. Light bulb first."

"Are you feeling dizzy?" Shun asked. Dan blinked, then realized that he did feel a bit dizzy.

"Blood loss?" he asked.

"You're catching on faster," Shun commented. Dan rolled his eyes and Shun started toward the kitchen. "Come on. You're gonna want to take off your shirt-"

"What?" Dan asked, wanting to make sure he heart the teen ninja correctly as he followed.

"Yeah, I said take off your shirt."

"How am I supposed to do that without getting blood on it?"

"Would you rather I cut it off?"

"I'll take off the shirt." (**Dan: You're enjoying this aren't you? Me: Yep**) They were back in the kitchen now, Mira and Mylene both standing there with Orange Juice in their glasses. Dan tossed the bloody paper towel into the trash, grimacing as he did it. He ducked over the sink, then rinsed off his hands. He took off his jacket, then struggled at getting the gray tank off without getting blood on it.

Shun washed his hands in the sink and then somehow produced a pair of latex gloves. Dan thew his tank on the floor and caught sight of a blushing Mylene and Mira. Dan glared at them and stumbled as a wave of dizziness washed over him. Julie helped him sit down in chair while Shun came over, a pair of tweezers in his hand. He looked at the wound, then at Dan's paling face. "Marucho, call an ambulance," he said. Dan stared at him stupidly for a moment, then gasped.

"What?"

"Dude, you need a blood transfusion. Look, I'm gonna hold this here and trust me, it's gonna hurt a lot. Runo must have hit you pretty hard."

"I saw stars."

"Yep. What did she do, take the lamp shade off and hit you with the bulb?"

"Actually, yeah." Then Dan let out a moan, falling back in the chair. He felt so dizzy... the world was spinning.

"Dan! Dan, can you hear me? Dan!" The words sounded distorted and jumbled. Suddenly, he heard a scream. Julie's? Then two more while a masculine voice shouted for them to calm down. He heard more shouts and a gasp, then felt a thud on his lap and a slight discomfort on his forehead, and somewhere it dawned on him that he had lost too much blood. Things were blurred from that point on, and he heard someone shouting his name in his mind.

_Dan, can you hear me? Dan! No, it's a trap! Answer me! Dan!_

…_.._

Dan was blinking awake in a white room. The light was way too bright, he realized first. He grimaced, closing his eyes again. It was still too bright, and he squeezed his eyes shut tighter. He became aware of something wrapped around his head. He opened his eyes, forcing himself to endure the sting that came with that simple movement. All he could see were blurred shapes at first, then, gradually, they began to sharpen into objects he recognized. There was a curtain circling around where he lay, in a white bed, blocking his view of the room itself. Was he dead? he wondered.

No, he wasn't dead. He moved his fingers. He could feel them. He started to lift his arm, but found something cold locked around his wrist. He blinked, his brain still foggy. Was he paralyzed? He let his arm hang down again, wondering what was wrong.

…

Keith groaned, swimming to the surface of his consciousness. He didn't think it was possible to have such a bad headache. It throbbed in time with his heart beat, and he felt as though his body were on fire. The lights, even though they had put a blindfold on him, hurt his eyes, and the cuffs around his wrists were cold. He knew why he was here, but he wasn't concerned with why. He was concerned with _where_, and at the mercy of _who?_

...

Runo's eyes fluttered open lightly, and she was shocked to find a bright white ceiling. She blinked, thinking, _hm... I thought the ceiling in my room was beige..._ After a few minutes though, she realized that something was wrong. She narrowed her eyes at the ceiling, then glanced to the side. A white curtain blocked her view of anything, although she thought it looked a little brighter outside the curtain. She wondered if there was a window on the other side of the curtain, then realized that there were bright, hospital like lights on the ceiling. It must be one of those, not the window.

Wait, why hospital lights? She gasped, sitting up. She grimaced when something cold pinned her wrists in place and laid back down, kicking and struggling to find that her legs and wrists were pinned to the bed. Or, more accurately, the table. She panicked, thrashing on the table and trying to get free, but it was no use. She was stuck. She didn't think to teleport, for she was blind with panic, and even if she tried, she'd find her transport signal blocked.

The blond, ruffled haired boy smirked as he stared at the screens in front of him. One showed the brunet, struggling Pyrus brawler, whose Bakugan was imprisoned in a metal belt above his head. Another showed the spiky, blond haired Pyrus brawler, who stayed calmly still and had his Bakugan resting, in ball form, on the table beside him. The third monitor showed the girl that had eluded him twice before. The boy's eyes narrowed at her repeated attempts of dislodging the metal cuffs that bound her wrists.

The girl had disgraced him, both verbally and through her continued resistance. She had practically spit in his face by running away from him, and by cheating him out of his prized collection. She had _stolen_ from him after they made a deal: that she would be allowed to have the Bakugan back if she didn't escape. He should have suspected that she would try to double cross him. He should have placed extra guards around her door. But no. He had been too proud to admit that this girl, this clever, stubborn, hopeful Haos Battle Brawler, this _human_, might have been trouble. And he had made a mistake that he would not repeat: underestimating her.

…

"Agh! Seriously, what the heck? Let me go already!" Runo shouted, still struggling in vain. She tried to kick and tried to grant her arms freedom, but the cuffs were just being too _stubborn!_ They refused to let her go. She screamed in frustration and despair, hating how she was limited like this. She stopped struggling, finally, panting in rage. She couldn't move, she couldn't see outside the white curtain, which was so irritating because of how it didn't even _move in the slightest_ when she blew towards it. She didn't know where she was or where Dan was, or even if she was in the same building as he was. She didn't know why she was here, or how she had gotten here, wherever here was.

This circling cycle of ignorance was what irritated her the most and she found herself thrashing again, attempting, once again, to free herself. This was a million times worse than being captured by Prince Hydron. At least in that situation she knew where she was, how she got there, what time it was, and who the person she should be hating was. But here, she had none of those luxuries. She didn't have the slightest clue where she was, how she got there, the time of day(or night), or who she should be cursing right now. She could be yelling at whoever it was who kidnapped her and strapped her to this table to let her go in a rather colorful assortment of ways. But no. Whoever it was clearly wanted to see her squirm with the agony of ignorance, and was clearly enjoying it by the way no one came to her aid.

She groaned, lying, limp, once again on the table. She was wasting her energy, and she knew it. Well, at least she knew something, but this revelation didn't exactly do much to aid her escape, or her knowledge of the situation. But a closer look did reveal something, something that she viewed as valuable information. Whoever it was that hat her here, at his mercy, wanted to keep her here, and clearly wasn't taking any chances.

**Breezyfeather: Okay, I know I said it would be longer, but if I added something else here it just wouldn't fit. Plus, this is 6 pages. The rest have only been about 5. or 4 ½.**

**Ren: okay, can you please tell me what I am supposed to be doing here?**

**Breezy: I think that's-**

**Everyone: (groans) for you to know and for us to find out...**

**Breezy: do I really say that that often?**

**Everyone: YES!**

**Thanks for the reviews, everyone!**

**Can I have more?**

**Please?**


	10. The knife, IV, and Treachery

**Breezyfeather: Wow I sound like a little kid with the review obsession...**

**Shun: ya think?**

**Breezyfeather: Well I really like them! I know a lot of people are reading, but only about 7 people review regularly. I love getting their reviews and I am honored by their continued support, but I wish the rest of the people reading would give me their opinions...**

**Runo: (randomly) Why am I the bad guy there? I only hit him with a lamp!**

**Breezyfeather: Yeah, well, you took off the lampshade!**

**Runo: Well I didn't expect to hit him the forehead! I was going to just hit him with the wooden part over the head and have the light bulb break over his back!**

**Dan: Well that's very thoughtful and all but WHY HIT ME IN THE FIRST PLACE?**

**Runo: SORRY!**

**Everyone in the room: (covers their ears) OW!**

**Runo: Sorry...**

**Everyone: What?**

**Runo: SORRY!**

**Read on!**

Dan pursed his lips, concentrating. He narrowed his eyes in concentration, his limbs stiffening. He clenched his fists, sweat breaking out on his forehead from the heat he was generating. The cuffs around his wrists were glowing red from the heat, and he struggled against them again. His skin must have become burn resistant when they discovered their powers, or maybe it was the crystal hanging from a leather cord around his neck, resting on his still shirtless chest, that permitted his invincibility. He had wondered before why the enemy hadn't taken that from him, but decided not to dwell on it.

_Dan_, a voice hissed. Dan blinked, freezing. _Dan, can you hear me?_

"Huh? Spectra?" Dan whispered. He went back to struggling a second later, the IV in his arm stinging him as it moved.

_Dan! Finally!_ Dan blinked, heating up the cuffs even more. Now the metal was white, and it still didn't hurt him. _Dan, I was beginning to think that he killed you. Are you okay?_

"Me? Yeah, I'm fine. Runo hit me with a lamp though," Dan muttered, recalling that moment. "I think that's how I ended up here. Who's "he"?"

_That's why you had such a bloody face? Geez Dan!_

"How did you know I had a bloody face?" Dan wondered briefly why he and Spectra were talking as though they were friends, and why Spectra hadn't answer him, but he dismissed the thoughts when the cuff began to give. He gritted his teeth and pulled against the cuff, sweat coursing down his neck and face. The bandage wrapped around his forehead was becoming less likely to stay in place as more sweat beaded there, but Dan didn't care. _Why did she hit you?_

"I asked her if she could have just transported us to California after-"

_You went to California?_ Spectra demanded.

"Well, yeah-"

_I didn't think you'd be that stupid!_ Spectra groaned. Dan narrowed his eyes, putting his annoyance to good use and using it to add more fuel to the fire in his wrists.

"Well excuse me for trying to break you out of prison."

_Oh, grow up. It was a trap. Ren was just waiting for you guys to show up here. How he even knew about you guys I'll never know but-_

"Who the heck is Ren?" Dan asked. He gasped in surprise when the cuffs broke, then he grinned and sat up, rubbing his scorching hot wrists. He rubbed his forehead, panting, in hopes of getting some of the sweat off. "Yes," he panted, smiling. He was exhausted, but boy was it worth it to just be able to sit up!

_Huh? _Spectra asked.

"I melted the cuffs and broke them, so now I can sit up," Dan explained, grabbing the ones around his ankles. _Thank goodness I'm flexible_, he thought mildly. _I gotta thank Mom for making me do yoga_, he thought, grabbing the futuristic locks on the sides. He yelped as a shock jolted through his body and let go of the lock hastily.

_Electric charges?_ Spectra asked. He sounded both exasperated and amused at the same time.

"Do you really know me that well?" Dan questioned. He could almost picture Spectra smirking at that.

_You seem to forget that I was there when you grabbed the cage that Gus threw over you_, Spectra said, still sounding amused. Dan rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. I've gotta get outta these," Dan said.

"And then what are you going to do?" a raspy voice inquired. Dan gasped, turning in the direction of the voice. He could still only see the curtains and glared at them.

"Who's there?" he demanded, flinging a curved arc of fire at the curtain. It went up in flames in an instant, falling onto the floor and revealing a stunned looking dark skinned boy. He stared at the flames with startled golden eyes and then grabbed a fire extinguisher from the wall. He hurriedly pressed the button down on the thing, sending a flurry of white substance at the flames and causing them to go out. Dan glared at the boy, a flame kindling to life in his palm.

_Dan what's wrong_? Spectra asked.

"Kid came in here. Dark skin, yellow eyes," Dan said briefly. The teen looked at Dan like he was crazy, since he was walking to no one, or at least that's what it looked like to him.

_Ren_, Spectra said shortly.

"That's Ren?" Dan asked. Spectra gave a grunt that Dan assumed meant yes. Dan glared at Ren, who stared evenly back. "What do you want? Let me out of here!"

"What are you going to do once you get out?" Ren asked. Dan's expression didn't falter.

"Why do you care?"

"Because I do."

"Go away."

"How do you know you're not in a random hospital?" Dan stared at Ren, the oddness of the question catching him and ensnaring him in the net.

"I'm gonna find my friends. I know I'm not in a random hospital because most random hospitals _don't strap people to a table_!" Ren stared evenly at Dan and made no move toward him. He and Dan stared at each other for a moment, and then a Darkus Bakugan popped up over Ren's shoulder. Dan gasped, staring at it in shock. He certainly hadn't expected his captor to have Bakugan!

"How- what the- how do you-?" Dan choked. "Wait a minute – where's Drago?"

"Look above you," the Darkus Bakugan said. Dan twisted(thanks to his mother's yoga) and looked up above where his head had been. His eyes widened in shock when he took in the belt above his head, and the little red marble clasped in the center.

"Drago!" Ren watched as Dan reached up, trying to snatch Drago from the belt. His fingers couldn't reach it, though. "Drago! Drago, wake up! Drago!"

_Dan he can't hear you,_ Spectra shouted.

"What do you mean he can't hear me?" Dan growled.

_Its Vestal technology! When we captured Shun, Marucho and Ace, we put them in pods with their Bakugan in belts, like Drago is now. The belts are supposed to keep the person captured inside unconscious by using power from their Bakugan. Drago must have used power from the Perfect Core to revive you and Runo._

"When did you capt- oh forget it- wait what about Runo? And how did you know that Drago was-" Suddenly Ren launched himself at Dan, landing on the table with Dan's wrists pinned under him. Ren yanked Dan's necklace off of his neck and flung it into the corner of the room, gasping when part of the ruby touched his arm. Dan gasped, feeling his body loose heat rapidly. Ren looked at his forearm, grimacing when he saw the smoking skin. Dan stared at him and then struggled, trying to get the silver haired boy off of him.

"Let go!" Ren grimaced, having a hard time keeping the struggling teen under him.

_Dan!_ Spectra shouted. Ren grabbed both of his arms, made them cross, then pinned them above Dan's head. Dan struggled still, but with his legs out of commission and now his arms pinned above him, he was loosing the fight. Dan tried to call upon his powers, but found that he was barely able to make a spark. He needed the ruby in order to do anything with his Pyrus powers, and Ren seemed to have realized that.

"Now what, huh?" Dan challenged. He wasn't scared, just mad. "What are ya gonna do now?"

"Ah, good work, Ren," a sly voice came from door as it opened. Dan and Ren glanced toward the door, Dan glaring in frustration and Ren calmly regarding the figure that Dan couldn't see. Soft footsteps sounded as the figure made his way into the room, and then the part of the curtain that didn't burn was pulled back. Dan's eyes widened.

"I'm glad that our _guest_ is still here," Hydron smirked, resting his right elbow in his left hand, twirling a lock of hair around his index finger. "After all, we wouldn't want him to miss the show."

"Hydron," Dan growled. He pushed up with his arms, hard, and Ren was forced off of him. Dan sat up, glaring at the dark skinned boy, who now lay on the floor, rubbing the back of his head. He had whacked it against the wall. "Let me out of here or you'll be sorry."

"Oh I'd love to see how well you do against me," Hydron sneered, "when you can't move."

"What are you talking about?" Dan demanded. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not pinned to this stupid-" He gasped, his muscles tensing on their own accord. "What's... going... on?" Dan gasped out, falling back against the pillow on the table. Hydron laughed while Ren watched from a distance, not enjoying this turn of events.

"I didn't think that the mighty leader of the Battle Brawlers would be so dimwitted," Hydron smirked. "I thought that you would have taken the IV out as soon as you freed your arms. But no, you were more concerned with getting the chains off your ankles so you could leave. But you still would have had the issue with the IV."

"What the heck... did you... do?" Dan forced out. Hydron's face grew into an insane grin, one that reminded Dan a little bit of Shadow, but even more crazed, which he didn't think was possible.

"We Vestals are more advanced than your foolish human species," Hydron began, walking closer to Dan, "and we have a little drug that we can use on criminals, if they're injured in their capture, or while they are committing their _crime_." His twisted grin faded to be replaced with a serious look. "It paralyzes them, renders them immobile. It's much similar to the Gate Card Ring Zero. We put it into the criminal's IV when they're in the hospital, and one minute they can move their arms and legs, and the next, they find that even moving their finger is impossible. Quiet impressive, isn't it?"

Hydron walked closer to Dan, reaching behind him. Dan watched his actions angrily, trying to move, but finding all of his actions suppressed by the drug. He tried to make a fist, but like Hydron said, it was nearly impossible just to make his fingers twitch. The only thing that he could move easily was his face, but talking was difficult.

Hydron now was at the side of the table, a sadistic grin on his face. "This will teach you and that _girl _a lesson," he hissed. "Ren! Hold down his arms." Ren looked at Hydron for a moment, and that was long enough to alert Hydron that something was wrong. "Ren! Come on."

"You know, Prince, that I have been completely loyal to you, correct?" Ren said softly. Hydron turned toward him, and Dan glared curiously. Ren looked up at the two of them, his gaze carefully level.

"What are you getting at?" Hydron asked, narrowing his eyes. Ren locked gazes with him.

"This is wrong. I know it and you know it. But you're blinded in your quest for revenge."

"What are you-?" Hydron demanded.

"I'm only doing this so that I can find something out," Ren continued as though Hydron hadn't interrupted him. "And although my emperor ordered me to do this, I'm not entirely sure that I will be enlightened after this assignment. I don't have to obey you if I don't wish to." He and Hydron glared at each other for a moment, then Hydron smirked.

"Your emperor told me about your little quest for knowledge, Ren," he said. Ren narrowed his eyes at the prince, who still had one hand behind his back. "He told me that if you cooperate with everything he says, and everything I say, he might consider giving you those secrets." Ren's fists clenched, something that Hydron noticed.

"I thought you said that he was paralyzed," Ren said carefully.

"Yeah, so what?" Hydron demanded.

"I don't see a reason to hold down his arms if he can't move them." Hydron snapped.

"Just do it! Or I'll tell Emperor Barrodius or whatever his name is that you disobeyed me... and trashed him with your words." Ren's eyes widened and he looked at Dan, who glared at him. He looked at the ground, fists clenched, then closed his eyes and sighed. He stood up and crossed the distance between Dan and himself. He stood on the side opposite Prince Hydron, the left side, and grabbed Dan's wrists. He pinned them above Dan's head again and Dan hissed, grimacing.

"Sorry," Ren whispered. Dan turned his attention away from the silver haired teen and back to Hydron, who brought his hand out from behind his back. Dan eyed the object in his fist, uninterested at first, and looked away, trying to find a way out of this, but Hydron pulled him back.

"Take a good, long look, Dan," Hydron smirked. "You might want to." Dan narrowed his eyes, but glanced back at the rectangular object. He gasped, for before the sheath had been removed. There was a shinning, silver blade there, engraved with words that Dan couldn't understand. The knife was a shining silver dagger, and it seemed to glow rainbow in the harsh electric lights of the room. Dan looked at Hydron in shock and struggled even more to get control of his limbs back.

Hydron laughed maniacally and held the dagger with two fingers so that Dan could see the hilt. There were six gems down it, and a rainbow one that circled around the bottom. At the top was a red gem, then a milky while and pink one, then blue, followed by purple and green, and, finally, a brown one that reminded Dan of Tigers Eye. Hydron closed his fist around the dagger again, put the sheath on, and held it, hilt up, in front of Dan's face.

"This dagger was gifted to me by my father," he smirked. "And he told me there was a secret behind each of these stones. And something tells me that you know what it is." He paused, then unsheathed it again. He held it up to the light, allowing it to glint off impressively. Then, he sneered down at Dan again. "From the look on your face I think that you do know. And I will find out what you know, one way," he held up the knife so that the light reflected into Dan's eyes, "or another.

"However, I have another reason for having this wonderful knife." Dan glared at him and Hydron glared back. "Your pesky little _girlfriend_. Lets just say that this will be a little... punishment, for defying me."

"What are you gonna do, Hydron?" Dan shouted, his vocal cords loosening enough for him to shout. If Hydron was surprised by this turn of events, he didn't show it. His sadistic grin reappeared and he held the knife to Dan's throat. Dan's eyes followed the knife out of fear, but it didn't look like he was scared. He glared at it as it came to a stop a centimeter from his flesh, letting out a choked sound as he tried to move his head back.

"Relax," he whispered. "I won't hurt her. However, I know this knife has a hidden power. And I intend to see... how well you and your team can resist it. You, that red haired girl, the little kid, Shun, Runo, and that silver haired girl. I'd just love to see how well you can fight against it. And... how about we make a wager on that fight?"

"Who says that we're even going to fight in the first place?" Dan demanded. The knife came a little closer and Dan jerked his head back, finding it easy to move his head all of a sudden. Hydron narrowed his eyes at Dan, then smirked again.

"You tell me. Are you really going to throw away your life by resisting... when you might actually have chance?" Hydron asked. "Besides... I won't let you have Drago back until you agree to my demands. I'll give you time to prepare for your fight, and this little...(he pulled Dan's necklace out from behind his back, the diamond-shaped red stone swinging on the lather) trinket back to you. It'll be a fair fight, I promise you. Just me, my dagger, and Ren against you and your team."

"Since when am I involved in this?" Ren asked, looking up at Hydron with a challenging gaze.

"Since I employed you," Hydron said. "Just do as I say." Ren glared at Hydron and then looked back at Dan, who looked torn. He sighed, giving in, a moment later, and Hydron's face shone with triumph.

"What do you want?"

"Lets see... what do I want? Well, for starters, lets talk about if you win. If you win, I'll let you go. I'll let all of you go."

"Fine, but also, I get your dagger."

"Fair enough. But... if I win, I get all of your Bakugan... and I get your precious Runo to fight on my own."

"What do you want with Runo, you sadistic freak?" Dan demanded. Hydron frowned at him.

"Well that was rude. Do I have to teach you some manners?" he asked, edging the knife closer. Dan turned his head away from the blade, grimacing, as the flat part of it pressed against his jugular. He didn't have to open his eyes to know that Hydron was smirking again. "Well I guess it is natural for you to worry about your girlfriend," Hydron sighed, "so I'll tell you." Dan squinted at him. "That girl has eluded me far too many times. She's like a fish. And she broke a promise to me. She owes me for that."

"You're crazy," Dan hissed. "You're doing all this because Runo broke a promise to you? Really? She's your enemy, what do you expect?" Dan shouted. Hydron pressed the flat part of the knife harder against Dan's neck and he gasped, glaring at Hydron. "I'm gonna... I swear... man, when I get out of this, I swear, I'm gonna make you pay for threatening my girlfriend." Hydron's eyes had a fire in them and were cruel and angry, his face showing nothing but pure rage.

"I can very easily kill you now, Dan Kuso," Hydron hissed, pressing the knife harder to emphasize his point. "There is nothing stopping me. All I'd have to do is flip this over and drag it across your skin. You do realize how thin human skin is, don't you? It would be so simple, so easy, just to kill you know. But no, I won't just yet. But right now, you are completely at my mercy, as is your petty little girlfriend. You are not in the position to be making threats, my friend."

"Who said we were friends?" Dan hissed. Hydron glared at him, then his expression changed.

"Tell me the secret behind the knife. I'll get it away from you if you do," Hydron bargained, his cold expression not changing. Dan glanced at the knife, feeling the cold edge of it when he swallowed. He glared at Hydron, keeping his mouth shut. "Do it," he hissed. "If you don't, you're leaving Runo unprotected." Dan's eyes widened and he bit his lip, glancing at the door. "So simple," Hydron whispered. "You'll be allowed to move as soon as you tell me. You'll get this back." He waved the necklace in front of Dan's face, and his eyes followed it like a hypnotized child. The offer was too tempting, and Dan gave in.

"Its got a bit of each of our stones in it," he admitted. "Mine is the red one. It's got powers from the Six Ancients." Hydron's eyes shined in triumph at Dan's cave, then he narrowed them, suspiciously, at the dagger in his hand. He pulled it away from Dan's neck and he let his breath out with a "whoosh", then he laid back against the table, breathing hard.

"This knife has that power, huh?" he asked. Dan closed his eyes, trying to get his heart, which was hammering in his chest, to slow down. Hydron placed Dan's necklace back around his neck and turned his back. Ren released his arms and placed them back at Dan's sides, silently flipping a switch on the IV. He gave Dan a warning look, alerting the brunet that Ren had defied orders. He gave Ren a questioning look but Ren shook his head slightly, walking away. While Dan lay there, Hydron pulled up a chair, studying the dagger the whole time. Ren sat down in a chair against the wall, and Dan was left to his thoughts. He glanced up at the belt above his head, wondering when Drago would be released. A bright light flashed in the room and everyone looked up, but none of them saw anything. "Must be the lights," Ren said coolly. That got Dan thinking about Runo, and then Spectra, and he glanced at Ren.

"Spectra mentioned you," he said. "Why did he get arrested?" Ren looked up at him, his stare serious. But... it also looked a little desperate. Like he was trying to tell Dan something. Dan shot him a questioning look and Hydron smirked, letting out a small grunt of satisfaction. Dan turned his head toward him, abandoning the curiosity. "What are you so happy about?" he asked, his lip curling.

"Why, Spectra was never arrested," Hydron replied, placing the sheath back on his dagger. "Or at least, not for any crime."

"What are you-?" Dan started, but then he caught sight of Hydron's self-satisfied smirk. "What the heck?"

"I ordered Ren here to go to Earth to spy on all of you for me," Hydron said. "That dimensional anomaly that sent all of the Vexos to Earth? Well, lets just say that I set that."

"What?" Dan asked. He thought he heard a sound and glanced around, and, seeing nothing, brushed it off as his imagination. He was so desperate to get out of here, and to find Runo, that he must have been imagining that she was in the room. Dan turned back to Hydron. "What do you mean?"

"I've been suspicious for a while," Hydron said, "of the loyalties of my servants. They seem... a little bit too... cunning, for my liking. Spectra is the one I'm the most concerned about. I've heard Mylene speaking to Volt about his loyalties, and the loyalties of Lync and Gus. Mylene, however, seems a little inclined treachery herself. After all, she does seem to crave power. I'm worried that she will challenge me for the throne."

"Where are you going with this...?" Dan asked.

"I made sure to cause a tear in the dimensional portal as it was close to Earth. It was risky but effective, and all of them ended up on Earth. I sent Ren down after, and made him sure that he was to present an ID to the police, as you call them, to show that he was in a position of power. A few of his friends went to help out, too, and they made sure to catch Spectra at a moment when he appeared to be vandalizing property.

"I ordered them to arrest him, that way everything would seem like one giant mistake. However, Spectra must have heard me talking to Ren, or seen him somewhere, for he recognized him when they first met," Hydron said, narrowing his eyes at the dark skinned boy in the chair against the wall. He appeared slightly on edge, but was really masking a much greater nervousness. He shivered suddenly and Hydron raised an eyebrow at him. Ren shrugged it off and appeared relaxed again a moment later, then went back to examining his fingernails.

Dan found that he could make a fist and blinked, then grinned. Hydron wasn't looking, thankfully, and Dan was able to compose himself again. He gritted his teeth, concentrating, and felt himself heat up again. He hoped that the gem wouldn't glow, and that the cuffs wouldn't show that they were about to break before they did. Strangely, a cool breeze washed over him, and his body cooled on its own, yet he was aware of the growing heat on the cuffs binding his ankles. He gave a puzzled look at the ceiling, then at Ren, who flashed him a slight grin. Dan blinked.

"Ren did a good job, at first, and then I heard that two people had broken into the prison," Hydron continued. Dan looked back at him, noticing that Hydron was admiring the hilt of the knife once more. Dan's brow creased and he could feel sweat breaking out on his forehead again, and then that cool breeze was back, and it smelled of the ocean. Dan looked up at the ceiling, trying to find the source of it. He was cool, no longer sweating, but the cuffs on his ankles were heating up. He couldn't make sense of it.

"The security cameras revealed them to be Shun and Runo..." Hydron growled. "And I ordered Spectra be moved where we could observe him more clearly. I was waiting to confront him, and then Ren suggested that we attack you guys. It went much better than we expected, because we found you unconscious because of blood loss, and Runo unconscious because of all that energy she expended the other night," Hydron smirked. "Those actions made you play right into my hands. And now all of you are here, where I can keep an eye on you, and all of you are at my mercy. Soon I'll have my collection back, my revenge on the Resistance, and my personal revenge on Runo."

"You're crazy," Dan hissed, and with that, the cuffs on his ankles shattered. Hydron gasped and Ren smirked, giving a satisfied grunt. Dan jumped up, his wings growing, and his hand clasped around his necklace. He swung it around his neck and floated in the air, glaring down at Hydron. The blond haired boy shot to his feet in his anger at Dan's escape.

"Get down from there! I command you!"

"Sorry, but you don't have jurisdiction over me," Dan smirked. Hydron glared at him for a moment, his rage apparent, and then he relaxed, closing his eyes and grinning.

"You can't leave just yet. I still have Drago."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, my _prince_," a voice said. Dan and Hydron gasped as a flash of color filled the room, closing their eyes as it became blinding. They opened their eyes cautiously, then blinked. Dan grinned and laughed while Hydron gasped, the knife slipping from his fingers, and glared at the group standing before them. Shun, Julie, Alice, Masquerade, Runo, and Marucho all had grasped hands around another group of brawlers, dressed in multicolored outfits. Dan's face broke into a wide smile when he recognized the faces and outfits of the party.

"Runo! Spectra! Mira!"

"Hey Dan!" Shun grinned.

"Good to see you, my friend," Masquerade smiled.

"Need some help?" Keith grinned, tossing something red in Dan's direction. He easily caught it, thanks to his Bakugan skills. He grinned at the Dragonoid Bakugan that popped out in his hand.

"Thanks for the wake up call, Drago," Dan grinned.

"No problem," Drago replied.

"Sure looks like he needs help," Shadow laughed.

The gems around all of the Brawlers were glowing, and Dan's began to glow, too. He was joined in the air by Runo, who flung herself into his arms. Dan smiled at her, understanding now why he hadn't been hot or discovered during the breaking of his chains. "Thanks guys," he smiled.

"Don't mention it, Dan," Marucho grinned.

"Yeah, ditto!" Julie smiled.

"We're all here for you, Dan," Mira said.

"What's the plan, Master Dan?" Baron grinned.

"We heard everything you just admitted, _Prince_," Gus growled.

"Yeah, and lets just say we aren't very pleased," Shadow glared. Hydron took a nervous step back, forgetting about his fancy knife.

"You... you tricked me!" Hydron realized, pointing at Ren. He was leaning, calmly, against the wall. "You knew this would happen!"

Ren was silent for a moment. "What are you talking about?" he asked, looking up. "I had no idea about this. I'm just as surprised as you are."

"Then why don't you _show it_?" Hydron hissed. Ren shrugged and Hydron growled.

"Who's the weasel now, huh Hydron?" Lync shouted. Hydron hissed, taking another step back.

"I told you that you would pay the piper," Volt said.

"Who asked you?" Hydron shouted.

"There's no way you can beat us, you creep," Runo told him. "We're enemies! Get over the fact that I broke my promise!"

"You... you little..."

"You insult her, I burn you alive," Dan hissed, a flame springing to life in his hands. A sphere of darkness rolled in the hands of Alice and Masquerade, a few shards of ice between Marucho and Shun, a ball of light in Runo's hand, and a slingshot, loaded with rocks, was taut in Julie's hands. The Vexos each had their Bakugan ready to throw, and all of them looked mad.

Hydron glared at all of them, realizing that he couldn't win. His lip curled and he shook in rage. "We'll settle this another time, _traitors_!" He then teleported out, leaving his knife, and his old cronies, behind.

Dan and Runo landed easily on the ground, and Dan reached down. He picked up the knife that nearly killed him and narrowed his eyes at it, then turned to all of the others in the room. He grinned and rubbed his head. "Thanks guys, for bailing me out back there," Dan said. His words were aimed at all of them, but mostly at the Vexos, who could have easily denied everything that Hydron had said, but instead decided to remain on the side of the Brawlers. Maybe people could change for the better, Dan thought.

"Don't worry about it," Gus said. He smiled at Dan, a real, genuine smile, that Dan had never seen before on Gus' face. The rest of the Vexos nodded at Dan, except for Keith, who grinned at him and greeted him almost like an older brother would green his younger one after school.

"Looks like we're not going back to Vestal for a while," Lync commented.

"Looks like," Ace muttered.

"Well, I for one never really liked that bratty prince anyway," Mylene said. "Let's take him down."

"Wanna join the Brawlers?" Dan asked. Everyone froze, with the exception of Masquerade. "If we're united, then why not fight as one team? We could all work together really well, you know."

The Vexos- or, Ex-Vexos, hesitated, looking at one another. They were unsure of what to make of this gesture. After all of their fighting, could bonds possibly be forged with either team? Finally, Keith turned toward Dan, his decision still unclear. "How about you give us a little time to decide on that?" he asked. Dan smiled and nodded, then he grinned at Shun.

"You know, Dan, you really have to stop suddenly suggesting that without our opinions," Shun said. Dan laughed and Ren grinned, making his way toward the door. Dan noticed this and called out for him to wait. He turned, looking at Dan curiously.

"Hey, hold up. Why don't you join us, too?" he asked. Ren looked at his feet, then glanced at Linehalt. An unseen conversation seemed to pass between brawler and Bakugan, and then Ren looked back at Dan.

"Sorry, but if I join you, I'll be branded a traitor, too. Technically, I'm not a traitor right now. I did obey orders, and although Hydron might think of me as a traitor, I didn't do anything wrong. So, I can't be punished as of this moment. I'm going to return to my home planet and talk to the Emperor, and probably not come back here, to Earth. Maybe we'll meet again some day," he said. He turned away from Dan, and, before Dan could say anything in protest, he had transported out of the room, leaving the Brawlers and their former enemies alone.

**This isn't the final chapter, I've still got another one, maybe two things that I have to include in this, so maybe three more chapters, at the most. Sweet I updated 3 days in a row!**

**Breezyfeather: OMG you know what I just realized?**

**Mason: What?**

**Breezyfeather: That it's always the Sub-Terra brawlers that betray people! Look, Billy was the first to betray Naga and Masquerade, then Mira betrayed the Resistance, then Gus and Spectra betrayed Zenoheld and Hydron, and then Hydron that betrayed Zenoheld, and then Nurzak that betrayed Emperor Barrodius, and then Mason that betrayed Emperor Barrodius, and then Jake that betrayed the Brawlers! OMG!**

**Shun: Whoa.**

**Dan: I never made that connection.**

**Runo: Well that isn't exactly surprising.**

**Dan: What's that supposed to mean?**

**Runo: oh, nothing.**

**Please, can I learn what those of you that don't really say much think about my stories? I wanna know if I'm doing something you like, or that you don't like, so that I can apply that in my other fanfictions.**

**So... please click the button!**


	11. Secret behind the Athame

**Breezyfeather: I have a general idea about what I want to do with this chapter.**

**Shun: Still need to think it over?**

**Breezy: Yeah, it shouldn't be too hard, because whenever I zone out in class I find myself thinking about this story.**

**Dan: Really?**

**Breezy: Yeah... I'm kinda obsessed with Bakugan.**

**Lena: I'm surprised you haven't admitted it before.**

**Breezy: Well yeah, because my dad would tell me I was obsessed with Avatar and Sailor Moon 3 years ago. Now I just keep my mouth shut unless I'm talking about my stories.**

**Mason: That's an improvement.**

**Breezy: Who asked you for your opinion?**

Alice and Masquerade were in the field in the dimension between the two of them, one that Alice called Eternal Spring. The two of them sat under a tree there, the breeze blowing gently. Alice had her eyes closed and Masquerade looked around, then pulled a Bakugan out of his pocket.

This Bakugan would be his new Guardian Bakugan, for Hydranoid was Alice's now. Darkus Razenoid would work perfectly as his new Guardian Bakugan, and the two had already become friends. Now Razenoid popped out of his ball and looked up at Masquerade.

"What's wrong?" he asked. Masquerade looked up, out across the field, then back down at Razenoid.

"It's nothing," he said. "Just thinking."

"If you say so," Razenoid said. "Masquerade, you and Volt have been conversing, correct?"

"Yes, that's right," Masquerade confirmed. "Why?"

"Well, what was it that he said to you, about that knife that Dan picked up?"

"Well, it wasn't just Volt," Masquerade corrected him. "While we're here, I get visions from the Ancients, just like Ace, Baron, and Volt. Hm... maybe we should go talk to them."

"Why not? It might be a good idea," Razenoid agreed. Masquerade got to his feet and concentrated, then found himself looking through his mask outside of Alice's body. She had used the power of her crystal yesterday to separate the two of their bodies temporarily, and the crystal's effect still hadn't worn off. Masquerade looked down at Alice's sleeping face, knowing that she must be exhausted.

They were resting in Marucho's house, and, of course, he had more than enough rooms for all of them. Dan and Runo were still with them, their vacation cut short. Masquerade didn't care about that, but he knew Alice felt back about all of the trouble that caused it to be ruined, despite the fact that it wasn't her fault. The couple was sleeping in two separate rooms, both right next to each other.

Dan had fallen asleep very quickly the night before, which Masquerade found a little strange. After the experience that he had had the day before, you would have thought that he'd have a tougher time getting to sleep. But no. Dan had fallen asleep almost as soon as he laid down on the bed. Runo had yelled at him to take a shower and, with Shun's help, dragged him into the bathroom and shut the door. Dan took the shower, the band-aid that covered the incision made by the IV and the bandage on his forehead falling off. Of course, then he started bleeding again and had to be hustled down to the infirmary. They patched him up and sent him back to bed, and he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Everyone had worried if he had passed out from blood loss, but the nurse's in Marucho's house quickly eliminated that possibility. They simply told them that he was exhausted, and Masquerade didn't blame him. Keith had been the same way, and so had Runo. The three of them had been hooked up to those IV's, Masquerade thought, silently creeping out of the room and into the hallway. He couldn't help but wonder if the three of them had been exposed to some sort of undetectable, dangerous chemical while they were hooked up to them. As far as Masquerade could see, there was no need for Runo or Keith to be hooked up to the IV's. Dan had been unconscious due to blood loss and needed to replenish his strength, but for what reason would Runo and Keith need to have the devices put in?

Masquerade's thoughts drifted to what he and the others had done while Keith, Runo, and Dan were strapped to metal tables. He and Alice had been taken to a large prison cell with Mira and Ace, while Shun was with Baron, Julie and Marucho. The Vexos, much to their surprise, were going to be put in prison cells. At the last possible second, however, Mylene and Shadow had turned the tables on them. Mylene had pulled out her whip and Shadow just kicked, both of them startling the guards. Gus grabbed one of the guards and slammed him against the wall, grabbed the guard's rod with glowing rings(which wasn't yet powered up), and shocked him, causing him to slump down against the wall, unconscious. Lync ducked under his guard and tripped him, and Volt easily knocked his guard back.

Between the five of them, all of their guards had been taken out in a matter of seconds, all of them lying, unconscious, on the ground. The Vexos hadn't wasted any time with freeing the Brawlers, then they all hurried out of the prison. Gus confirmed that they were going to Vestal, since they were now on a ship headed there. All of them had then decided to split up and pair up, with the exception of Shun. Alice and Masquerade had already separated from each other, so they went together. Shun went on his own and Mira went with Ace, Baron with Marucho, Julie with Gus, and Lync with Volt, while Mylene and Shadow went with each other. They agreed to radio each other if they found Dan, Runo, or Spectra and meet up there.

Alice and Masquerade had utilized the powers of her crystal, which split in half for each of them. The two watched out for guards and occasionally took them out, but mostly just flew, invisible, through the hallways. Then they heard Julie radio them, saying that she had found Runo and Keith. Alice and Masquerade transported to the room number she gave and waited for the others to arrive, trying to free Runo. Julie had warned them that guards had been patrolling the hallway, and when Alice let out a yelp because she tripped one of them poked his head in. That led to Gus knocking the guard out, as he had run up at just the right time.

Once the others had arrived, they were able to free Runo, and then Keith who was in the room next to her. Runo had asked him why he couldn't hear her screaming and he suggested that she had been put in a sound proof room. "Well I guess that Hydron has _some_ sense," Runo grumbled, and everyone laughed.

They had then gone off to find Dan, Keith communicating with him the whole time, and Alice had been the one to discover him. She noticed that he was in an awkward position and gasped when she realized that someone was pinning Dan's arms down, and the other person was holding something to Dan's neck. From the blue color, Alice guessed that it was a knife, and Alice suspected that it was Hydron wielding it. She communicated these suspicions to the others, and Runo urged that they go in and help out Dan. Keith agreed but told them to do it carefully, like maybe teleporting into the room first, and being invisible. Do to Dan's current state, he wouldn't dare risk simply charging into the room. Shun agreed, then suggested that they mask themselves with invisibility and teleport in. Everyone agreed and Runo looked at them all.

"I'm not sure how effective my invisibility is going to be when used on the whole group," she said. "Alice, you have invisibility powers too, right?"

"Yeah, since I'm Darkus," she said. "So does Masquerade."

"I can use Aquos to distort what they're looking at," Marucho pipped up.

"And Sub-Terra like a chameleon!" Julie agreed.

"Ventus helps, too," Shun said bluntly. Runo smiled and they all joined hands, the Vestals in the center of their circle. Runo closed her eyes and all of them concentrated on invisibility, which settled over them like a blanket. Runo opened her eyes then and squeezed Julie and Alice's hands, as they were on her left and right. Then, she transported them inside.

The light form the transport made all of the people inside the room look up, and Runo was relieved to see that Hydron had backed away from Dan with his knife. Dan looked surprised, and he was starting to sweat. Runo regarded this curiously and Alice whispered something to Shun.

"His body is so hot..." Shun noticed, too, and then glanced at the melted wrist cuffs.

"Oh I know what he's doing," he hissed. "He's melting them! Come on, Marucho, help me cool him down." The two of them directed cold air toward Dan, and the sweat on him dried. He glanced around in confusion, then started to speak to Ren.

Little did Dan know that Keith had hissed to Ren about their current situation. Ren had given the slightest of acknowledgments and looked at Dan desperately. Then Hydron had started talking.

"Why, Spectra was never arrested," he smirked, sheathing the knife in his hands. Runo and the others started at him in confusion. "Or at least, not for any crime."

"What are you-" Dan started, but noticed Hydron's smirk. "What the heck?"

"I ordered Ren here to go to Earth to spy on all of you for me," Hydron said. "That dimensional anomaly that sent the Vexos to Earth? Well, lets just say that I sent that."

"What?" Dan gasped.

"What-" Runo started, but her outburst was quickly muffled by Keith's hands on her mouth. She didn't struggle and he kept his hands there, clearly bothered by this turn of events. Dan glanced around, toward her, clearly confused.

"What do you mean?" he asked, turning back to Hydron.

"I've been suspicious for a while," Hydron smirked, "of the loyalties of my servants. They seem a little too... cunning, for my liking. Spectra is the one I'm the most concerned about. I've heard Mylene speaking to Volt about his loyalties, and the loyalties of Lync and Gus. Mylene, however, seems a little inclined treachery herself. After all, she does seem to crave power. I'm worried that she will challenge me for the throne."

Mylene stiffened, as did Spectra and the rest of the Vexos. Runo wanted to beat up Hydron but was stopped by Keith's hands on her mouth. Julie and Alice could feel her stiffening and whispered to Gus and Mylene, who grabbed her arms. Hydron then went on to explain the rest of his plan, and Runo grew more and more agitated. Julie and Alice squeezed her hands and Runo squeezed back. "Runo, you're breaking my fingers," Julie whispered. Runo relaxed her grip somewhat, but she still appeared to want to bash Hydron's head against the wall.

Dan made a fist, looked surprised, then glared at the ceiling. The cuffs around his ankles, Alice noted, were growing hotter and hotter, to the point that they were white. Shun and Marucho kept sending cooling breezes toward him. His look of concentration was replaced by one of puzzlement, and he glanced at Ren, who grinned at him. Dan blinked, then Hydron started talking again and Dan looked back at him.

Dan grew more perplexed as Shun and Marucho sent more cool air toward him, and then Hydron's next words made everyone stiffen.

"The security cameras revealed them to be Shun and Runo..." Hydron growled. "And I ordered Spectra be moved where we could observe him more clearly. I was waiting to confront him, and then Ren suggested that we attack you guys. It went much better than we expected, because we found you unconscious because of blood loss, and Runo unconscious because of all that energy she expended the other night," Hydron smirked. "Those actions made you play right into my hands. And now all of you are here, where I can keep an eye on you, and all of you are at my mercy. Soon I'll have my collection back, my revenge on the Resistance, and my personal revenge on Runo." Runo froze and Keith kept his hands clasped firmly over her mouth. Mylene and Gus tightened their grip on her arms while Julie and Alice squeezed Runo's hands.

"You're crazy," Dan hissed, and then the cuffs shattered. Runo and the others stared in shock as he jumped into the air, and the IV tube snapped. Hydron shot to his feet and shouted at Dan to get down. Keith suddenly vaulted over Runo, somehow remaining invisible, and landed on the belt above Dan's head. He grabbed the red marble clasped between it, then jumped back behind Runo.

"You can't leave just yet. I still have Drago," Hydron smirked.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, _prince_," Keith hissed, and the Brawler's broke their circle. Dan's face broke into a wide smile when he saw who was standing there.

"Runo! Spectra! Mira!"

"Hey Dan!" Shun grinned.

"Good to see you, my friend," Masquerade smiled.

"Need some help?" Keith asked, tossing Drago to Dan. Dan caught it and exchanged a few words with Drago, then Shadow agreed that Dan would need the help. Runo's wings grew from her back and she launched herself at Dan, hugging him tightly. He grinned over her shoulder at Shun, mouthing a "Thank you!" Shun grinned and nodded.

"Thanks guys," Dan now said to everyone. The Brawlers brushed it off and they all turned to Hydron, who had dropped his knife. The Vexos had been mad to say the least, then Hydron had fled. After Ren refused the offer to join the Brawlers, he had left, too, and the Vexos, Resistance, and Brawlers all headed back to Earth.

Masquerade now walked silently down the hallway, searching for Volt's room. The older, taller, Haos Brawler had asked he, Baron, and Ace to join him in his room that night. They had a few things to discuss, he had said. Masquerade scanned the numbers on the rooms, and after a while discovered the correct one. 1347.

"Man, Marucho has way too many rooms in this house," he murmured, knocking twice, like Volt had instructed him.

"Come on," a voice called from inside, and Masquerade turned the doorknob. Inside, the lights were out, except for a few candles. Volt and Baron were already there, sitting on the couch in the room. Baron smiled at Masquerade while Volt regarded him calmly. The light reflected off of Masquerade's mask eerily, making it glow almost. Masquerade shut the door and walked in, Razenoid perched on his shoulder.

"So we're just waiting for Ace now," he said, sitting down next to Baron.

"Looks like it," Volt nodded. He looked at the door expectantly, and Baron looked at Masquerade.

"I know that if you're Alice while you have that mask on, you'll turn back into her," he said. "But what happens if you have your own body?"

"I'm not exactly sure. I haven't really tried it yet," Masquerade said. "But I don't think it's wise to try it tonight. I might be pulled back into Alice's body."

"Hm. Good point," Baron murmured, leaning back against the couch. Then came two knocks on the door.

"Come in," Volt called. Ace opened the door and walked in, closing it silently behind him. He glanced around, taking in the candles and the boys on the couch. He nodded at Volt, then leaned against the wall.

"What did you want to talk to us about?" he asked. Volt was silent for a moment, then he spoke.

"You have all received visions from the Six Ancient Soldiers, correct?" he asked. Baron and Ace stiffened while Masquerade smirked.

"Yep," he said. Ace and Baron exchanged glances, then nodded.

"I as well. Have you learned the secrets of the knife that Hydron had?" he asked, cutting straight to the point(**NO THAT WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE A PUN**). Baron and Ace shook their heads while Masquerade nodded.

"Well then, let's enlighten them," Volt said. Masquerade nodded, looking at Ace and Baron.

"You see, a long time ago, the Six Ancient Soldiers had a knife created, for ceremonial purposes," Masquerade said. "One Bakugan from each attribute contributed, and a White One Bakugan created the actual blade itself. It was made of a special metal known as Hakkin, and it's only found in New Vestroia. Only White Ones can make it into something."

"Bakugan that weren't the Six Ancient Soldiers gathered from each attribute world," Volt continued. "One was Pyrus Novalion."

"I heard about him. Didn't he help out Dan in his battle against Centauriour and Druman?" Ace asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Baron agreed.

"Yep," Masquerade nodded. "Anyway, the Six Ancients would only use the knife for ceremonial purposes, so in a way it can be considered an Athame. The Ancient Athame."

"However, in our invasion of New Vestroia, the Athame was misplaced," Volt said. "And King Zenoheld found it. Having heard legends about it, he declared that it was a symbol of his conquest of New Vestroia. He gave it to Prince Hydron, who kept it a secret until yesterday, when he threatened to kill Dan with it."

"So, other than that, what's so important about it?" Baron asked.

"The Athame posses remarkable powers, even thought it might not look like much," Masquerade said. "Each stone is from a different attribute world. The one of the bottom, which is shaped like a ring, posses the power of the Infinity Core, and the Silent Core. They were both fused together by the powers of each of the Bakugan selected from their attribute worlds. Those Bakugan gave up their lives so that they could create the knife, as that stone seals the power inside the knife so that it doesn't just destroy everything."

"The thing that Hydron didn't understand is that only the Brawlers with the powers of the attributes can wield the knife," Volt explained. "They have a certain mindset that corresponds with the knife. The Six Ancients aren't able to wield the knife as well as the Brawlers will be able to."

"You are right up to this point, Volt Luster, Masquerade," a voice called out. Everyone gasped as the room was bathed in bright, white light. All of them moved quickly to cover their eyes with their arms, and the next thing they knew, they were floating in the center of New Vestroia.

They lowered their arms, looking around through the mist. Then, the Six Ancient Soldiers became visible to them. Appolonir and the others were floating in a hexagonal circle, each of them residing where their attribute would. The Bakugan of Masquerade and the Vestals grew behind their brawlers, each calmly regarding the Six Ancients.

"There is more to the Athame than meets the eye, my young friends," Apollonir said.

"What do you mean?" Ace asked. "We know that it possess powerful magic but what else-?"

"That Athame has the ability to protect New Vestroia," Exedra said, "from any threat. It can protect the wielder from anything, too, and the wielders planet."

"So this Athame is mostly used for protection? Not the offensive?" Baron asked.

"That is correct," Lars Lion said.

"And it appears that the protection it offers will be needed in the near future," Oberus murmured.

"What do you mean?" Masquerade asked.

"Prince Hydron and King Zenoheld are planning an invasion on Earth," Clayf explained. The brawlers gasped.

"Why?" Ace asked.

"Why else? He wants the Athame," Volt growled.

"That is part of the reason," Frosch said.

"King Zenoheld and Prince Hydron want revenge on the Brawlers, the Resistance, and the Vexos," Apollonir explained. "And they are headed toward Earth at this very moment. They will reach their destination by nightfall tonight."

"That gives us eighteen hours," Baron gritted his teeth.

"To do what?" Ace asked. "The only thing that we can do at this point is tell Dan and the others, and get ready to fight. It's not like we can evacuate the whole planet."

"We don't know if he's going to hurt anyone," Baron protested.

"Where King Zenoheld is concerned, I would expect that," Volt said darkly. Everyone turned toward him, and he looked back at them. "I've seen what he does to Prince Hydron. He beats his own son, when he doesn't do something right."

"Whoa," Baron gasped.

"I can't believe I used to be loyal to a jerk like that!" Ace shouted. "I guess I kinda understand why Hydron is such a jerk now."

"So what do we do now?" Masquerade asked.

"It looks to me that we should tell Dan and the others," Percival suggested.

"We should wait till the morning on that," Nemus told them. "They're going to need their rest, especially after yesterday."

"I agree," Razenoid said.

"Remember, be careful," Exedra warned.

"Use the power of the Athame wisely," Lars Lion said.

"The fate of the universe could depend on the outcome of this battle," Clayf announced.

"Don't let fear overcome your hearts," Frosch urged.

"Things will turn out alright," Oberus agreed.

"If you need our help, don't hesitate to ask," Apollonir said. "We'll be ready if you need us."

And with that, the light vanished, and the former Vexos, current Resistance members, and Masquerade were all back in the darkened, candle-lit room. They looked at each other for a moment, trying to get their bearings. They were all sitting on the floor, looking around through the darkness. After the brightness of the Center of Vestroia, it was hard to see through the night. Volt fumbled with a lamp nearby and turned it on, allowing them to see their faces.

A mixture of awe and horror was on everyone's face, and after glancing around at each other, they realized that something had to be done, and fast.

**Breezy: SO SORRY ABOUT THE LONG WAIT!**

**Shun: You had writers block?**

**Breezy: Yeah... sorry!**

**Dan: sigh...**

**Review! :) Thanks for reviewing last time, everyone!**


	12. Decisions

**Breezy: One of the last chapters.**

**Shun: Okay.**

**Runo: Then you can start on one of the three stories that you have planned out!**

**Breezy: Yeah! I can't wait!**

**Ace: But you have to finish the other ones!**

**Breezy: Hey, be thankful I'm finishing this one! I love it and all, but I reaaaally wanna get writing this next fiction!**

**Baron: Then hurry up and finish this one!**

**Breezy: It should take... I dunno... 3... 4 more chapters?**

**Ace: Good luck...**

**Breezy: Why do I get the feeling you're being sarcastic...?**

**On with the chapter!**

"Dan. Dan, wake up." Someone was shaking him awake and Dan groaned. His arms and legs ached, as did his head. His wrists and ankles stung. He didn't want to move.

"Nngh... no... it's Sunday..." he mumbled. His throat was dry and hurt when he talked.

"Dan! We need you to get up," the voice came again. Whoever it was shook him again and Dan grimaced. The person let go of him abruptly and Dan squinted, then blinked. The lights were out, and there was a figure standing next to him. Dan glanced around, his eyes then resting on the figure. He recognized the forked mask almost instantly.

"Masquerade?" he asked, then swallowed, trying to quench his parched throat. "Dang... can you hand me that water bottle?" Dan asked, pointing at the nightstand. Masquerade grabbed the water bottle and tossed it to Dan, who caught it easily. He grimaced when his arms moved too fast, but he lifted the bottle to his lips and drank in the cold water, thankful that he had put ice cubes in it. He gasped for air after he had drained half the bottle and grinned, feeling refreshed. He stretched and the aches he had felt vanished.

"Dan, get up," Masquerade urged. "It's important."

"What time is it?" Dan asked, glancing around through the darkness. "What, is it like, four in the morning?"

"Four thirty. Come on, move it," Masquerade said, grabbing Dan's wrist and pulling him from his bed. Dan was wearing his Resistance Uniform, minus the jacket, and stumbled when Masquerade dragged him across the room.

"Hey hey! Give me a sec to change my shirt," Dan protested. Masquerade let go of him and Dan quickly discarded his gray tank. He snatched up a clean one from the dresser and pulled it on, then followed Masquerade out the door after putting on his boots and snatching a cold, metal object off the dresser. He slipped it easily into his jacket pocket, feeling how the object weighed it down sufficiently. Dan wasn't surprised by that. The masked brawler hurriedly walked through the hallways, ducking left and right every here and there. It was still dark, but then the lights started to flicker on, and Dan assumed that everyone else was up, too. He wondered what was so important.

"What's going on?" Dan asked Masquerade. "Why did you get me up so early?"

"It has something to do with Hydron," Masquerade said bluntly, starting to jog. Dan narrowed his eyes and jogged after him, easily keeping pace.

"Let me guess. Something with the knife, too?"

"Bulls eye. Come on, they're waiting," Masquerade said, ducking around another corner. Dan easily followed and came face to face with Kato, who looked a little startled. Dan yelled in surprise, falling onto his butt. Runo laughed at him while Kato offered his hand, apologizing.

"Nah, that was my fault for not watching where I was going," Dan grinned. Kato shrugged, continuing around the corner. Dan kept walking with Masquerade, noticing everyone gathered in the large room.

There were two couches and recliners, as well as a coffee table in the middle. On the left, by the window, was a couch sticking out of the wall, and Mira, Mylene, Runo and Julie were sitting there. On the other couch was Shadow, Keith, and Gus, and on the other was Lync and Marucho. They all looked up as Dan walked in, Runo, Mira, Julie and Keith grinning, then they turned back around. Shadow looked tired, as did Mylene and Lync, while Gus and Keith seemed to be denying their need for sleep. Dan took in Volt, Baron, and Ace standing in front of everyone, and Masquerade left Dan's side to join them.

"Sit down, Dan," Masquerade said. "We've got something important to talk to you about."

"What's up?" Dan asked, taking a seat in one of the recliners, directly facing the four boys at the front of the room. Behind them was a large window, and it was still dark outside. None of the lights in the city were on, which struck Dan as strange. He pushed the thought aside, however, and focused on the boys. Drago popped out on Dan's shoulder.

"Yes, what is so important that you have to wake us up at four?" Drago asked. He was clearly upset that his sleep had been disturbed.

"It's four thirty, and its very important," Razenoid said, popping out on Masquerade's shoulder. Dan blinked at him, not recognizing the Bakugan. The others seemed to brush off his appearance absentmindedly, having already met him earlier that morning. Masquerade had left him in the room to meet with everyone, since waking up Dan was bound to be a near-impossible task. "I am Darkus Razenoid. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Hello," Drago said, nodding at the Bakugan.

"Dan, may I see the Athame?" Ace asked Dan, walking up to him. Dan stared at him, unsure of what he was talking about. Percival sighed.

"The knife," he said bluntly.

"Oh!" Dan jerked, reaching into his pocket for the knife. "Yeah, I didn't know what an Athame was."

"You're off the hook this time, Dan," Shun grinned. "I didn't know it either."

"Hm. Wow," Dan said.

"An Athame is a ceremonial dagger with a double-edged blade," Marucho explained. "It's used most commonly in Witchcraft and neopagan traditions."

"Neo-what?" Dan asked.

"Neopagan. It's- never mind, it's not important," Marucho muttered, catching the slight shake of the head that Mira gave him.

"Thanks Master Marucho," Baron grinned. "But this Athame has a history."

"An important history," Ace said. His tone was serious and seemed urging. He held up the sheathed blade for all of them to look at.

"The Ancient Athame," Volt said, looking out at all of them. Shadow, Mylene and Lync seemed to have woken up and were all looking at Volt with curiosity evident in their gazes. "This is a blade that originates from Vestroia." Everyone gasped but Dan, who narrowed his eyes.

"I knew it," he said. Runo and the others turned to look at him, surprised.

"How did you know it?" she asked. Dan shrugged.

"I dunno. You tend to pick things up when you have a blade pressed to your throat, I guess."

"I heard you say to Hydron that it had powers from the Ancients," Keith said to Dan.

"You did what?" Masquerade demanded. Dan threw up his hands in denial.

"How was I supposed to know I was right? I'm never right! He thought I looked like I knew something and he was gonna cut my throat! I spit out the first thing that came to my mind!"

"Of course you would do that," Gus muttered.

"Hey! You try being strapped to the table, unable to move, with some guy holding down your arms, and another guy holding a knife less than an inch away from your neck!" Gus was silent and everyone sighed.

"Well, at least they don't have it," Mylene said.

"Yeah, that's a good thing," Mira agreed. Just then Alice walked into the room, the gem around her neck still glowing. She was holding two trays with several steaming drinks on them. "Runo, Julie, can one of you guys give me a hand with putting these down?" she asked. Runo jumped up to help her, taking one of the trays and placing it on the table between the couches. Alice did the same and Dan realized that the mugs contained hot chocolate!

"Ah sweet!" he grinned. He grabbed a mug from the table and eagerly started drinking, then yelped. "Ow ow hot hot!" he cried. Everyone but the Vexos(besides Shadow) laughed.

"Anyway, back to business," Masquerade said after everyone had taken a mug of hot cocoa. "The Athame is a powerful relic from the Six Ancient Soldiers. It was created by representatives from each attribute. Dan, I think you'll remember one of them."

"What do you mean?" Dan asked. "What, was he a Pyrus?"

"Yes, and you fought with him in Vestroia," Baron said. Dan and Drago gasped as Dan leaned forward.

"You don't mean Novalion!" Masquerade nodded and Dan stared at him in shock, then looked at the knife in Ace's hand.

"Those Bakugan didn't all die. Their essence is still in the gems you possess, and in the gems knife," Volt said. "Novalion is still there, but in the gem." (**Hey, sorta off topic here, but did anyone notice that Dragonoid Colossus and Novalion have the same voice actor? I noticed right away!**) Dan looked at the gem around his neck and took it off, staring into the finely cut surface. Drago was silent, too, and everyone in the room seemed to recognize the moment as something important, something that was not to be disturbed. Dan had a hard time wrapping his mind around the fact that Novalion had given his body, not his life, to protect he and Drago.

"_I've been waiting for a Bakugan with a human to show up in our world!_"

"That must be what he meant!" Dan gasped.

"What who meant?" Runo asked.

"Novalion," Drago said. "He... when we were fighting, he said that he was waiting for a Bakugan with a human to appear in Vestroia." Everyone stared at him, looking startled.

"And then... Centorrior and Druman killed him," Dan said quietly. "Or we thought he did. When he died, his body sort of... disintegrated and floated away."

"They must have transferred into the gem, returning to the rest of his essence," Masquerade said.

"Wait, I thought you said that he helped create the knife. What does that have to do with our necklaces?" Marucho asked, looking at his.

"The gems are connected to the Perfect Core, to the Ancients, and to the Athame," Ace said. "They're what allow you to use your powers. They amplify the energy into something useable. Except for Runo, you guys can only use your powers if you have your gems with you."

"Why can Runo use them freely?" Gus asked.

"Because Runo learned that she possessed these powers on her own. Not by us telling her," Baron said. "Plus, light is a very powerful element, and Runo has friendship with all of you. She can use her powers for all of those reasons."

"Interesting," Shun said. "So because she was kidnapped, she can use them better than the rest of us?" Runo and the Vexos stiffened.

"Well, I guess that's part of it. If she had just come with Julie and Alice to New Vestroia, she probably wouldn't have awakened her powers without her gem," Masquerade reasoned. "But, she had to go and get herself kidnapped."

"Hello? Still in the room here!" Runo pointed out. Everyone laughed.

"Anyway, the Athame has six gems that were given by one Bakugan from each attribute, but not the Six Ancients," Volt summarized. "So, their essence radiates from the Athame and from your necklaces."

"Okay," Julie nodded. Alice sat down in one of the recliners and nodded.

"So, what is so important about this knife that makes you want to share all of this with us?" Mylene asked.

"Yeah, what's so important about some stupid piece of metal?" Shadow demanded, then randomly started laughing hysterically. Mylene and Volt shot him a look while the Brawlers just stared at him.

"Is he always like this?" Runo growled. Keith sighed.

"Just ignore him. You'll get used to it." Runo groaned.

"So he _is_?"

"The knife," Volt said, and everyone fell silent, "has the power to protect. Only the Brawlers can wield it, because they have the gems with the essence of the Bakugan that created the knife, and because they have their powers. They're able to use it more efficiently than the Six Ancient Soldiers themselves."

"Whoa," Julie whispered. Shun looked a little surprised while Runo and Alice were open mouthed. Marucho blinked and Dan was entranced.

"Cool," he grinned.

"So, the knife can only protect things? Not destroy them?" Keith asked.

"No," Ace said. "The knife can harm things, but you're right, they can't destroy them."

"Then why was Hydron holding it to Dan's neck?" Alice inquired.

"Maybe he wanted to test it on Dan?" Lync suggested, looking like he actually meant what he said and wasn't just trying to be a smart-alack. Alice didn't acknowledge him and he quieted, looking depressed..

"Hydron mustn't have known," Gus said. "He did ask Dan what the knife was, and that's just the proof we need to show that he didn't know what he had in his possession."

"Why would it matter if he can't wield it, though?" Mylene asked.

"Wait, he could unsheathe it and stuff. He held it to Dan's neck," Runo said. "Wouldn't that count as-"

"Whoa, you're right!" Baron gasped. "I didn't realize that!"

"Neither did I, so you're off the hook this time, Baron," Ace said. "Would that count as wielding it? Volt? Masquerade?"

"I didn't think about that, either," Volt said, looking perplexed. "But it would appear that..."

"He can wield the knife, too?" Julie cried.

"No way," Runo denied. But she looked unsure.

"This is bad..." Alice murmured.

"If he can wield the knife," Marucho gasped.

"Then if he gets his hands on it, he'll use its power for something destructive," Shun finished. The group was silent for a minute, then Dan stood up.

"What are you doing? Dan?" Keith asked as Dan walked across the room. He stood in front of Ace and held out his hand. Ace seemed to get the message and, after a moment of looking at the brunet, closed his eyes and bowed his head. The edges of his mouth twitched and he placed the cold, sheathed knife in Dan's hand, and then looked up at him again. Dan nodded and turned around, facing the rest of them.

"Well, if Hydron does come looking for it, he's gonna have a hard time retrieving it," Dan announced, staring out at them determinedly. "We're all here! The Brawlers sure aren't gonna let a creep like him get his hands on it! Right Drago?"

"Right Dan!" Drago agreed. Everyone blinked at him, then Runo grinned and nodded.

"You bet!"

"Yeah, we're gonna fight!" Marucho punched the air with his fist.

"Let's do it!" Julie cried.

"We sure won't let Hydron get his hands on that!" Baron vowed, grinning. Ace smiled, lifting his hands and shrugging. Mira was silent, watching. She liked how the Vexos were exempted from any of the shouts of encouragement. To tell the truth, she had been expecting one of them to slip up, to say "Vexos" by accident. But it was as if they had all adjusted immediately to the fact that their former enemies were amongst them now, and they were on the same side. Dan seemed to have completely forgotten the hostility that he had once had with his former rival, and Mira was grateful for that. Even Shadow and Lync were being cooperative, which she viewed as a good sign.

"About that," Volt said, and everyone fell silent again. Dan turned, looking at him with a confused expression on his face. Mira turned her attention to the tall, muscular Haos brawler, knowing that the news he had to share with them must not be good. He looked around at all of them grimly and sighed. "Hydron and Zenoheld... are on their way here right now."

Everyone gasped in shock and horror. Dan tightened his grip around the hilt of the knife, feeling nausea set in. His face paled and he stumbled backward, the reality of the situation hitting him like a physical blow. The cruel, sadistic prince that had almost killed him and was dead set on having his revenge on Runo, was now coming to Earth, backed by his father and most likely, his whole planet. Who knew how many brawlers he had on his side? Or even if he was going to be using Bakugan brawlers? What if he decided to use real foot soldiers, with guns or other weapons? He and the Brawlers wouldn't stand a chance!

"Oh God," Mira whispered.

"This is bad," Shun stated, the first to recover.

"Worse than bad," Ace said.

"He's coming for the Athame, Dan," Masquerade continued. "And he wants his revenge on all of you. I don't know exactly how he'll go about getting it, but he may very well go about it by using the rest of the people on the planet. He could threaten to kill them all."

"This is crazy, we've gotta stop him!" Dan shouted.

"But how?" Runo asked.

"Yes, how?" Keith inquired, getting to his feet. Dan looked at him, his fists clenched. "Zenoheld and Hydron have an army at their disposal. Believe me, I've seen it, and we don't stand a chance. They have Bakugan Brawler troops, but they probably won't fight us. They might, though, and those are the ones we'll be able to take. But the rest of them are going to be fighting with real weapons. Guns, electrical weapons."

"He's right. They have far more advanced weaponry than you do on this planet," Gus said.

"I have a few pieces from Vestal," Mylene said, "but not many. Gus and Lync use the Electro-Rod, and I mainly use my whip. We all have our Gauntlets, so we can use the blades on them."

"Yeah, but how do we make sure that none of the other people here are targeted?" Alice asked, looking worried.

"That's a good question," Drago said.

"Maybe we should issue a tsunami warning?" Elfin suggested.

"Yeah, yeah! It'll get everyone out of the area!" Preyas agreed, jumping up and down.

"Well that's a good idea and all, Elfin," Marucho said, lifting a finger, "but that will only get everyone out of Wardington. It won't ensure everyone's safety throughout the world. We have to think strategically about this. If we were to go out into a desert or somewhere, or a canyon, or some other uninhabited place, where no one can be hurt, and then send out a transmission to our enemies, we might be able to fight them without the risk of injuring bystanders."

"That's a good idea," Shun said from where he was leaning against the wall. Everyone turned to look at him, and he was gazing seriously at the floor. "But then comes the issue of actually sending that transmission out, and finding the perfect spot to battle. It's not exactly the easiest task to find the perfect deserted place for a brawl, or one that will give us the advantage." Shun looked up at them, his sharp, analytical gaze sweeping over all of them. "I think that we should all space out. Go and fight in pairs around the world and get people to evacuate where we are going to fight."

"No offense, Shun," Mira said, "but I think that we should consider how many troops are going to come and invade Earth. I agree that we might have to space out across the world to take on different troops, but I don't think that Vestal has enough ships or arms to attack all across your world. They will most likely track the signals from our Gauntlets and attack that location. So, here in Wardington, or wherever we decide to go. I think that we should go to a deserted area, like Marucho suggested, and wait for them there."

"At this point, they are too far off for them to attack our signals," Masquerade said, his mask glowing in some areas. Alice knew that he must be looking at statistics and placed her visor over her eyes. She and her grandfather had found a way to link the two of them so that if he or she is viewing data, they can view it at the same time and talk about it. She saw a diagram of Earth and the ship coming from Vestal. There was only one ship, she realized, not multiple, and they were at the edge of the diagram, far from Earth as Masquerade had said. They were so far, in fact, that the images of them on the screen were distorted and cutting in and out. They were on the very edge of the detection range.

"He's right," Alice said, lifting the visor. "We have a little time to decide on what plan we're going to go through with. They only have one ship, so if they're coming after us, they're going to attack us in one place. So we might as well have our entire arsenal with us."

"Alright then," Dan said, lifting a fist. He grinned. "Looks like we're heading to a deserted place nearby. Got any suggestions, anyone?"

"How about we all go to a desert in America?" Julie said. "I mean, I'm not sure about you guys, but the sand and heat will give both Sub-Terra and Pyrus an advantage."

"Well, what about the ocean?" Marucho asked. "I know that will give Mylene and I an advantage."

"But that's only you guys. We need to have a place that will benefit all of us," Keith said.

"But none of us are going to do well with hand to hand combat on the sand," Lync reminded them.

"He's right," Alice said, and Lync's cheeks started to redden. Alice blinked at him, feeling her cheeks get warm a little, then shook her head. Now was not the time for thinking about romances, she reminded herself. "We need someplace where we can fight well."

"Somewhere we fight well would mean someplace that we know," Runo reminded them.

"Then it's settled," Dan grinned. Everyone stared at him. "We all know Wardington. We'll issue that Tsunami warning and wait for the bad guys to come to us. We can all spread out over the town and ambush them when they look for us."

"Yeah!" Elfin cried, flipping. "I had a good idea!"

"Nice job, Elfin!" Preyas encouraged her.

"It was a good idea," Ingram agreed.

"Alright then," Gus said.

"I'm all for it," Shadow laughed.

"You might want to give Shadow, Volt and I a tour of the city," Mylene suggested, narrowing her eyes at Dan. "That way we know where to meet you if something happens."

"Alright!" Dan grinned. Then, a gurgling noise filled the air and Dan doubled over, clutching his stomach. He grinned, embarrassed.

"I'm hungry," he grimaced. Everyone rolled their eyes and Runo jumped up, launching herself at him.

"YOU IDIOT!" she shouted as the two wrestled on the floor. Everyone burst out laughing, despite the fact that the Vexos would be arriving in nine hours.

**Breezyfeather: And the end for chapter … what is this, 11? 12? SORRY ABOUT THE ****WEEK IT TOOK TO UPDATE I WAS REALLY BUSY THIS WEEK.**

**Shun: Don't look at me, look at Marucho. The website calls him a walking encyclopedia.**

**Marucho: Hey! Not anymore! Only the Bakugan Drawing Book says that!**

**Dan: How do you know that?**

**Marucho: Breezy's sister got her that book about 2 years ago.**

**Dan: Oh.**

**I only got a few reviews on that last chapter... please review!**

**Please? I wanna know what you think/thought!**


	13. Invasion

**Breezy: I'm at Religion. We ran out of things to do and have 20 minutes to kill. Thought I'd get started on the next chapter.**

**Fabia: Would it kill you to use proper English?**

**Breezy: I use it in the fanfiction, isn't that enough?**

**Runo: Nope.**

**Breezy: (sighs)**

Runo's eyes were narrowed as she looked out over the place that had an importance to her. The ground was mostly beaten down from what she could see, a few patches of snow every here and there. The hard packed, wet dirt was covered in foot prints of children, and the dust was now being stirred up by the cold wind. Runo's pigtails, tied back by the hair bands Dan had given her for Christmas, waved in that wind, and her green eyes sparkled. She had decided to wear the hair bands because, if she wore them today, they would have an even more important meaning to her. She would have fought a historic battle with them, even though the humans would have no record of it. The Vestals, on the other hand, would, if Mira had anything to say about it.

The park was deserted, unlike how is should have been. Everyone in Wardington and the surrounding area had cleared out, thanks to the Tsunami warning that Marucho had issued. He was so superior with his computer skills that it hadn't taken much to convince the officials to clear out everyone, although it had taken most of the day. The Brawlers had told their parents the truth about the tsunami warning but they had all left anyway. If the Vestals decided to hold one of their parents hostage against them, it would do none of them any good. It would simply be safer for them to hide until the battle was over and then they would deal with the fact that the tsunami warning was a fake.

"Dan, Runo, are you in position?" The voice came from the watches around Runo and Dan's wrists. They both lifted them before their faces, staring, determinedly, at the small screens. It had taken a while, but they had all managed to dig up their old Baku-pods. Alice had transported Julie back to her home to find it, and she borrowed Marucho's video watch. Now, on the screen was Marucho's face.

"Yeah," Dan said.

"We're here," Runo nodded.

"Good. We're detecting their ship not too far off. Be prepared to fight."

"You got it!" Dan grinned.

"Yep," Runo replied, and his face vanished. The two turned to each other, nodded, and spread their wings. Their gems glowed, as Runo's hairbands did, and their wings grew from their backs, Runo's glowing brightly and Dan's licking at the air. The two then jumped up, their Bakugan flying to their hands.

"Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand!" the two shouted. Tigrerra and Drago grew from their Bakugan balls in a burst of red and white light, Drago enveloped in his tornado. Runo and Dan took a few steps back, then ran forward, launching themselves into the air. Runo grimaced at the cold air biting her arms through her light jacket, as she knew she would become overheated in this battle very easily.

The two of them each landed on their Bakugan, Runo on Tigrerra's shoulder and Dan on Drago's head. He grabbed onto Drago's horn while Runo rested a hand on Tigrerra's neck, her wings out for further caution (**NOOOOOO MY BACKSPACE KEY BROKE!**). The Bakugan were able to be out and free because Marucho had powered up his and tinkered with it a little so that the Bakugan could walk around without the many Gauntlet's of the Resistance powered up. Runo and Dan didn't have to wear theirs, and neither did any of the others for that matter.

Dan and Runo glared up at the sky, then Runo looked back. She could see Julie, Mira and Gus perched on their Bakugan on top of the ridge where Julie and Billy had fought Tricloid. The memory triggered something inside of her and Runo clenched her fist. There was no way that she would let Hydron and Zenoheld take her down, or destroy her home town!

Suddenly, a number of beams of light shot down toward them. It took Dan and Runo completely by surprise, and the next thing they knew, they were flying backwards through the air. They yelled in pain, their arms somehow brushing against each other. They automatically entwined hands and Dan flipped, pulling Runo to his chest. The two managed to stop flying forward and floated like that in the air for a moment, the smoke from the blast masking them. Runo clung to him for dear life and he clutched her tightly to him, his hands passing harmlessly through her wings.

A moment later, they seemed to realize what had happened and jumped, looking at each other. Runo's chin was resting on his shoulder, her arms wrapped around his torso. Both of them stared into the others eyes, a blush growing on both of their cheeks.

And then the smoke cleared. Dan looked around, trying to pinpoint the origin of the blast. He assumed that it was from the royal jerk after them, but he hadn't seen any ships or even Bakugan that could have fired the shot. However, the blast did seem to have come from the air...

"Dan!" Runo cried, pointing above them. He gasped, looking straight up and catching sight of the massive, circular ship above him. He and Runo exchanged glances and then quickly turned, shooting away from it. It was hovering over the whole area around the park, and the park itself, casting a long shadow due to the fact that it was sunset. Dan and Runo were shocked by the size of the ship, and the fact that it looked like it was really just a floating castle.

"Dan!" Dan and Runo caught sight of Drago and Tigrerra a few hundred yards away, sitting up amidst the rubble of some destroyed houses. The two grimaced, feeling guilty, then flew over to their Bakugan. Runo teleported the last several yards, floating in front of Tigrerra.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm fine, don't worry," Tigrerra replied.

"You okay Drago?" Dan called, slowing in front of Drago.

"I'm alright," he responded. He looked at the giant palace floating before them. "My guess is that from here on out, we're gonna be going all out."

"My thoughts exactly," a voice called. Dan and Runo's eyes widened and they whirled around, catching sight of the two Vestals on the ground. One was taller than the other and wearing a long green cape, whereas the shorter one dressed in a brown vest like Shun's, except with fur on the hood and various other areas. Under the vest was a white shirt, under which was a black undershirt. He wore black pants and brown boots, and was smirking. Runo and Dan glared down at them, fists clenched.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in," Dan glared. "Where's all your tough talk, Hydron?"

"Cut the chatter, boy," the taller figure said. "Bow before your king."

"Heh. Yeah right," Runo snarled. "Like we'd ever show allegiance to you!"

"You're going to regret that," Hydron called.

"I doubt it!" Runo challenged. "You're not getting the knife back, you brat!"

"You dare-" Hydron started, but his father cut him off.

"Patience Hydron," he said. "That was always something that you lacked. However, for once, I am prepared to let that go, as I am eager to get to this battle as well." Hydron was silent. "Troops! Attack all out!"

"Yes sir!" The resounding calls of soldiers echoed around the two Brawlers, who now realized that they were surrounded by thousands of troops. Suddenly, lightning filled the air. Runo and Dan yelled in surprise and horror as they were forced to dodge it, narrowly avoiding it several times.

"Dan!"

"Runo!" Drago and Tigrerra both cried out for their brawlers. Drago wrapped his wings around the two humans, shielding them from the lightning. Runo and Dan clung to each other, Dan wrapping his flame wings around the two of them in a ball of fire and Runo covering the two of them in a spherical shield.

"You coward!" Drago shouted. "You set an ambush!"

"And you let others fight your own battles!" Tigrerra agreed. Runo and Dan looked at each other, still embracing, as Drago lowered his arms. The two nodded at each other and sprang apart, both of them doing back flips in the air and then holding up their arms. They flew in an arc, their paths intersecting the whole way so that it formed a twisted rainbow of red and yellow. Then, they found themselves back to back, tiny balls of flames growing from Dan's fingers and several balls of light from Runo's.

"Bakugan brawl!" the two shouted, slicing their arms through the air so that the balls of fire and light shot out in an arc.

"What?" Hydron gasped.

"This is interesting," Zenoheld murmured. "I think I'll watch this from inside. Come on, Hydron."

"Y- yes Father," Hydron said. The two of them turned, teleporting back onto their ship.

"What? Can't stand the heat?" Dan smirked, flames flying past his face.

"Dan? Terrible pun," Runo muttered. By now, several Haos and Pyrus Bakugan had grown from their Bakugan balls around the two Battle Brawlers. Dan and Runo couldn't name them all, but there were a few Pyrus and Haos Flybettles and Freezers. All of them were prepared to fight, and the soldiers on the outer ring of the siege looked like they were contemplating fighting or not. Dan and Runo both knew that they wouldn't think of harming the Vestals, even if they were their enemies, but the Vestals didn't know that. They continued to hesitate, neither side wanting to start this fight.

"What now?" Runo whispered to Dan, still with her back to his. He reached for her hand and squeezed it reassuringly, sensing her nervousness.

"We wait for them to strike the first blow. We're on defense," he whispered back. "These guys can't be the only unit. I know they've sent some in search of the people. And Shun and the others will be waiting for them."

"Okay," Runo murmured.

"ATTACK!" Dan, Drago, Tigrerra and Runo gasped upon hearing the order. It had come from one of the Vestals, that they were sure of. Suddenly, all of the Vestals sprang to life, running forward. The chorused shout of "Bakugan, brawl!" sounded through the air, making Dan and Runo gasp.

"They have-"

"Bakugan?"

Shun crouched, alone, in a tree. He had been assigned to this area, north of the park, in case the soldiers decided to teleport out of the ship and make a run for it. In case they decided that they'd try to kidnap civilians and use Dan's good nature against him. Or use any of their good nature against them, because there was not one member of the team that wouldn't give up themselves to protect another. Well, Lync and Shadow were difficult to vouch for, but Shun wanted to believe he could trust them. That went against his better judgment, however, so he just settled with watching and waiting.

Julie, Gus and Mira stood atop the hill directly north of the park, able to oversee what was going on with ease. All of the Sub-Terra brawlers were together for a reason, and that reason was to provide support with their elements. Ace, Masquerade, Alice, and Shadow were grouped together despite the fact that Shadow and Mylene made good tag team partners. Mylene and Marucho were waiting near the bay, not exactly expecting an assault from the water but deciding to be prepared on the off chance that the Vestals attacked from all angles. Baron and Volt were waiting in the shadows of the park, ready to provide support to Runo, just as Keith waited there as well. Baron waited south of the park while Volt was to the east, leaving Spectra to guard the west. They all ducked behind houses and sheds, keeping their eyes on the skies. Lync waited with Mylene and Marucho since Shun was here, scouting. He hadn't exactly made a fuss about it, as Komba would have, so Shun was grateful.

"Are you ready to fight, Shun?" Ingram asked the ninja. Shun glanced at him, his hand resting against the tree trunk. A pair of ninja hand claws adorned his hands, as did some foot spikes for his feet. Combat arm gauntlets made of leather wrapped around his forearms and a ninja shogee was wrapped diagonally around his torso. The sharp part of it was tucked into his belt so that he wouldn't have to worry about being stabbed or scratched. His grappling hook, of course, was wrapped around his waist.

"Yeah," he said briefly, in response to the Ventus Bakugan's question. A breeze lightly lifted his hair and he closed his eyes, relishing the cool, biting wind. It nipped at his cheeks and fingers, but he didn't mind very much. Later he would be sweating and lucky to have the wind to cool him. He knew it now and wasn't about to send ill wishes with the wind. Not only was he not about to do it, he couldn't afford to do it. The wind would play an important role in the way things would play out tonight, he knew, and now lifted a hand.

The chilly night air wrapped around him, spiraling around his legs and chest as he stood on his branch. Eyes still closed, he pointed up at the sky. The gem around his neck glowed and the clear wind was filled with sparkles, and the swirling air tinged green.

He felt a calming presence and breathed in deeply, recognizing the scent of his mother. He didn't dare raise his eyes, instead kept his face tilted toward the ground. Then came another presence, one that made him smile. He recognized the warm feeling of comfort as Skyrus, who had taken over the role of his mother and mentor when his real mother had died. Both were like his mother figures, but when it came down to it, his mother was his mother, and Skyrus was like a grandmother to him. Both were wise and gentle, but his mother was the one that brought him up to be himself.

The two spirits swirled around Shun, comforting him for the war to come. He knew, more than the others, the stakes this battle would hold. And they would be high.

Shun had been trained to be a ninja since he was little. He had worked hard at all of the maneuvers and techniques taught to him, even though he would have much rather been out playing with his friends. However, his mother had told him what she wanted from him, and his grandfather trained him. His mother started to help, as she had been trained as a girl, but then she got sick, and ninja training became dominant in Shun's life. He trained hard every day because he wanted to finish his training while she was still alive, to show that he had completed what she wanted him to do. But in the end, she faded away before he could show her that he had accomplished the goal set by her.

Now her spirit lingered with Skyrus's essence, who Shun had discovered was the Bakugan that gave her life to the gem. She had managed to live as one of the strongest Ventus Bakugan for hundreds of years, feeding bits of her essence to the gem as time passed on. She had managed to keep her form until she was released from Hydron, at which point her energy donations had fallen behind. In order to make up for the lost energy, she had to give a large dose at once, and it had cost her life.

Shun had found this all out when he took time to meditate that morning. It depressed him a little, but knowing that both his mother and his former Bakugan were with him comforted him. Plus, he had Ingram and was surrounded by friends. That was all he needed.

The wind around him died down, it's rejuvenating effect taking hold. Shun lowered his arm slowly, keeping his eyes closed and his face angled toward the dirt ground. He opened his eyes a moment later, knowing from the change in the air currents that something had happened.

"They're here!" Julie's voice split the air, coming from Shun's Baku-Pod. It didn't surprise him very much and he fisted his hands, feeling the cool metal spikes on his hand-claws. He quickly tucked his gem under his shirt and glanced at Ingram, holding out his hand. The Bakugan closed its ball and rolled into his hand, unafraid of the sharp spikes.

"Let's do this, my friend," Shun said, tucking the Bakugan under his cape.

"Yes," Ingram responded. Shun remained there for a brief moment more, then vanished into the night air. He had a specific destination in mind, as it was time for him to execute his part of the plan.

Shun's feet silently pushed off of the ground, the solidified columns of air, and the occasional tree branch. The foot spikes provided the necessary traction, as it was difficult to see in the dark despite his ninja training. He didn't know if he would accidentally miss his target tree branch, so put on the foot spikes and hand claws just in case.

A series of bangs sounded through the air and he thought he could hear Runo and Dan yelling, but he couldn't be sure. Nervously, he clenched his fists and narrowed his eyes, appearing determined to anyone that didn't know him very well. He launched himself off of a column of air, then off of the ground itself. Then he was back in the air again, his cape flying behind him in the dark. He was blending in completely, and there was no way with his stealth, agility, and camouflage that any enemy would be able to spot him.

Then Shun's feet missed the tree branch he had been aiming for. He didn't even make a sound, instead lifted his hands. They and the claws instantly caught onto the next, thick tree branch. Easily, Shun swung himself back up into the air, knowing that his mother would be proud.

Then the trees stopped and he was at a road. Shun stopped too, just briefly, to slip the foot spikes off of his shoes. It would be quicker and more practical to just run from here on. He tucked them into a small bag that he had on under his cape and looked down the road.

It was still light here, where the sky was visible. The forest surrounding the park was a rather dense one and had been left there because of an environmentalist protest. The trees had blocked out any and all light from the setting sun, making it nearly impossible to see anything in front of you. Shun now stared and blinked lightly in the fading light. It cast several long shadows on the roads and buildings. The sky was a wide array of colors, but mostly orange. In a few minutes it would fade to a dark, beautiful blue, and then it would be darkness. The element that Shun moved best in.

Shun took off down the road, deciding that it would be faster to run than to jump from spot to spot in the air. He guessed that if there were soldiers in the town they would see him, but he was a ninja. He was a master of illusions. He could even throw a few smoke bombs at them to confuse them. He wasn't very concerned with his cover, rather with getting to his destination on time.

"Shun." Shun skidded to a halt, glancing around. He felt the shogee as he tucked a hand behind his back, taking a study stance. He knew that voice. He looked around, knowing already who he would find. However, the enemy that hides in the shadows, unseen, is always a more formidable foe. Shun knew that from years of training, and clearly his opponent had picked up on that recently.

A few more glances around revealed the stubborn boy to him and Shun narrowed his eyes at the shadow. The boy was concealed in it slightly, but his white shirt was what gave him away. Well, that and his heavy breathing, and the fact that the fabric in his clothes kept making swishing noises. Shun guessed that he was twirling his hair again. Man, that boy had a lot to learn.

"What do you want?" Shun asked calmly, turning away from the boy-prince. Silence for a moment, then Shun could hear his footsteps.

"What do I want? Heh. I would think that you would know, Shun Kazami." Shun glared at the darkening sky, taking in its beautiful blue.

"Well, I don't have what you want, so get lost. You're not even looking for anything, because if you were, you would have demanded it by now instead of playing pointless mind games."

"Hm. I don't think you're the one who should be talking about mind games."

"What did you come here for?" Shun asked, feeling anger at the prince rise up inside him. First Hydron makes jokes about his mother, and then he comes demanding something from Shun. Shun could only imagine what, but he didn't have time to ponder it. He started walking away, his cape flapping behind him. However, Hydron gave a self satisfied grunt and didn't retaliate.

"What if I told you that your betrayal will break your friends?"

"What are you talking abo-" Shun demanded, whirling around, then cried out. His back arched and his eyes were wide open in shock, and then the yell was cut off. He dropped to his knees, his vision suddenly fuzzy. He landed on his chest, his head smacking against the concrete. He groaned, his vision cutting in and out. He saw a pair of shoes leisurely make their way toward him. He gritted his teeth, grimacing, as he tried to move, but found it impossible.

"Like I said, this will surely break them," Hydron smirked, reaching down. He grabbed Shun's collar, making him choke. He pulled Shun up so that he was in a semi-kneeling position, then twisted his arms behind his back. Shun felt a strength surge through him, then, and he resisted. Hydron was clearly surprised because he gasped, jumping back. Shun didn't waste any time. He whipped out his shogee and swung the blade end at Hydron, who yelled in surprise. Shun swung it again, making the boy dive to avoid it.

Shun knew he should run, but this kid had ticked him off for the last time. He held up an arm, wind wrapping around him. It was filled with glowing green sparkles that illuminated the area around the two boys, stirring up the hair on both of their heads. Hydron was very plainly terrified, sitting there on the ground. His eyes were wide and he looked like he had just been sentenced to death. Well, perhaps he had been. After all, Shun looked like he was ready to kill him. Hydron knew that he was probably capable of it, too.

Shun started to advance, but felt something hold him back. It was like someone was holding onto the back of his shirt, trying to keep him from running away. The resistance puzzled the ninja, but he brushed it off, taking another step in Hydron's direction. The boy pushed himself backward, wanting to get as far away from Shun as possible. Shun glared at him, standing still for a moment. The resistance increased, and he now felt as though his arms were being tugged behind him. It creeped him out, but once again, he tried to overlook it.

"Shun!" Shun froze, his eyes wide. His arms were suspended in the air, his foot halfway off the ground. Had that voice really belonged to...?

"Mom?" Shun whispered, stumbling a step backward. Hydron stared at him, entranced.

"Shun, what are you doing? Don't let your anger get the best of you!" No, that wasn't his mother, it was Skyrus!

"Skyrus?" Shun gasped, looking around.

"Shun, the jewel!" Ingram cried. Finally, his eyes rested on the gem around his neck. It was glowing softly, and he moved his hand so that it cupped it.

"Shun, leave him be!" Skyrus commanded. "He's merely seeking acceptance."

"What are you talking about?" Shun asked, staring at the glowing jewel. "He tried to kill my friends! He's tried to kill me!"

"Shun, listen to me," Skyrus ordered. Shun closed his mouth, staring at the jewel. "I've seen many things, and I know how much this boy has suffered. His father beats him, and he just wants to be accepted by him."

"You're wrong!" Hydron shouted, shooting to his feet. Shun looked up, staring at him. "I don't care what my father thinks of me! You don't know what you're talking about!"

"Shun, he's just looking for some place to fit in. And he wants his father to love him," Skyrus explained. "I'm not saying that his actions are just, but don't take his life because of this." Shun looked at the gem for a moment longer, sighed, and then looked up at Hydron.

"I'm sorry, I had no idea," Shun murmured. He was appalled by what he had just learned. His anger evaporated, he took a step forward toward the boy. "If this is the truth-" Suddenly, all of his strength depleted, and he fell forward with a sigh. His head bounced off the asphalt again, and this time his eyes stayed closed. The hand at his side relaxed, and Hydron knew that he was unconscious.

He stared at the older ninja, with his relaxed, pale face. He contemplated taking him back with him, like his father had ordered. After a little while, he decided against it. He wouldn't be getting up and moving around for a while, he knew.

Hydron turned away from Shun and walked in the opposite direction, the transporter teleporting him back to his ship, leaving Shun there in the center of the road.

**Breezyfeather: Ugh... I had so much writers block on that chapter. I am so sorry about not updating! And you guys actually reviewed on that chapter... I feel really bad now.**

**Shun: Well you should!**

**Breezyfeather: Sorry...**

**Dan: Oh great, now you're acting like you usually do.**

**Runo: Well better that than violent.**

**Dan: Hm. True.**

**Yeah... I've been kinda obsessed with Tales of Symphonia lately and my little sister wouldn't stop bugging me to the play Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World for the past 3 weeks... I gave in, and then I beat the game, and then I couldn't stop playing it again! Then I continued playing Tales of Symphonia(the first game) and couldn't put it down! I'm sorry!**


	14. Watching and Waiting What the?

**Breezyfeather: Sigh... I just can't seem to work on this! -_- Anyway, before I lose my spark of motivation, I'm gonna work on this. I hope I can get this finished before I lose it again.**

"How do you think the others are doing?" Julie asked tentatively. She was sitting on her road in the air, her feet and roller blades dangling in the air. A breeze sailed through the night, causing her hair to fly back. She and the other Sub-Terra brawlers were watching as the battle in the park lit up the night. Several flames of fire danced for a moment, and then a burst of white light tore through everything. A few bursts of multicolored light and then what looked like fireballs were launched in the air. Julie, Gus and Mira watched this tensely, able to hear the pops and bangs of the fight from even there.

"They're probably evenly matched," Gus said, his hair whipping behind him from another gust. "Besides, Master Spectra is there to help them out if things get bad."

"Keith..." Mira murmured, just as Helios's roar split the air. Her fingers clenched around her locket with Keith's picture and she leaned up against Wilda's neck. She was sitting on his shoulder, waiting to be called in to help. Right now, she had nothing to do, though, and her mind projected haunting images of her brother being killed as vengeance for his betrayal. Each one led to another more horrifying than the first, and she could do nothing to stop it.

Julie looked back at Mira and sighed. "Oh Mira..." She knew that the Vestal girl was worrying about her brother. Julie wished she could do something for her, to get her mind off of her brother. She had just gotten him back, after all. This must be agony for her.

"Julie," Gorem said. Julie jumped, glancing at her Bakugan.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I sense... Bakugan," he announced, pointing toward the bay. Just then, a beam of bright blue light shot up from the bay. Julie and the others stiffened, knowing that Marucho, Mylene, and Lync would have their hands full. Of course, that got Julie wondering if Lync had even found a new Bakugan to fight with.

"Uh, Gus?" she asked. "Did Lync ever get a new-"

"Bakugan? Yeah. He happened to find a Ventus Bakugan in the middle of an alleyway and decided he'd use it to fight with for the time being," Gus said, not taking his eyes off of the blue and green lights shooting from the harbor.

"Oh." Julie said, following his gaze. A blast shook the ground, unnoticed by Julie. Mira cried out, though, slipping, and Wilda quickly asked her if she was alright.

"I- I'm fine," she stammered.

"Do you think that Dan and the others need help?" Julie asked after glancing at Mira. The two girls looked off in the direction of Dan and Runo's fight, biting their lips. Gus gave an amused grunt.

"Please. He can handle his own against Master Spectra and I. He, Master Spectra, Runo, Volt, and Baron will prove to be quite the problem for Hydron's lackeys," he smirked. Mira and Julie exchanged glances at that comment, but knew that he was right.

Lights shot up from the harbor and from the park, red and white from the park and blue and green from the harbor. Julie wondered if the plan was falling into place yet, but then glanced at her Gauntlet. It showed the time, which was 10:08. Confused, she glanced toward Wardington Tower. Shun was supposed to be there.

"Hey, did any of you see Shun going toward Wardington Tower?" Julie asked.

"No," Mira said. Gus shook his head when Julie looked at him. She looked at her Gauntlet worriedly.

"I hope he's okay," she murmured. "He's never late—for anything."

"Maybe he just got a bit... tied up?" Julie and the others stiffened, Julie twisting her shoulders to see behind her while Gus and Mira whirled around. There, standing on the ground, was Prince Hydron. And lying on the ground behind him, with handcuffs on his wrists behind his back and ropes binding the rest of him was...

"Shun!" Julie gasped. The teen glanced up at her, his eyes glinting with an icy calm. Julie and the others stared at him, then glared at Hydron.

"Let him go," Mira growled. Hydron smirked while Shun rested his head on the ground, not seeming even the least bit concerned.

"Why should I?" Hydron asked, apparently in no rush to get to the point. He clearly enjoyed tormenting them, which of course had Julie and Mira angrily clenching their fists.

Julie dropped down from her road and landed on a new one, easily and suddenly skating toward Hydron. He jumped in surprise when she was within three feet of him, then took a step back. She came around again, making a point of kicking him in the stomach with her skate. He gasped and dropped to his knees, clutching his stomach. She skidded to a stop, turning and glaring at him.

"What is it with you and kidnapping people?" she asked, one hand on her hip. "By the way, that was for kidnapping Runo. _Twice._" Hydron let out a choked cough, curling up on the ground and clutching his stomach.

"Julie, help Shun," Gus called. Julie nodded, skating down onto the grass. She knelt down next to Shun and rested her hand on the ground, knowing that the earth would bend to her will. A sharp knife of stone rose to fit her hand and she grasped it tightly, bringing it up to work at the ropes binding Shun's arms and legs. It easily sliced through the ropes on his upper arms, but he had handcuffs on his wrists. Julie bit her lip at that, but quickly cut the ones on his legs, knees and ankles.

"Thanks Julie," he said and stood up, attempting to jump into the air, but falling to the side when he found out that the balance his arms provided was missing. He landed easily on his feet, but his lip curled in annoyance.

Julie looked up to see Gus and Mira running towards her and Shun, but Gus veering off to the side to take care of Hydron. Julie stood up and met Mira halfway, turning and skating back with her. "How's Shun?" she asked.

"He's fine," Julie reported, "but he can't move very well with the handcuffs." She skated back to Shun's side, wondering if Dan could melt the cuffs off..

"You won't get away... from me," Hydron choked, struggling up on his hands and knees. Gus tackled him then and the two skidded in the dirt, Gus landing a few feet away from the blond prince. The blue haired boy jumped to his feet and easily pinned Hydron down beneath him, something that bothered him. The prince just looked up at him, his eyes tired, and he didn't even try to put up a fight. Gus stared at him, suspicious of the lack of enthusiasm at the chance to fight.

"What are you waiting for?" Hydron asked after a moment. His eyes showed that he was exhausted and fearful, but he still summoned enough courage to challenge the former Vexos. "Aren't you going to finish me off?"

"That is such a clichéd line, seriously," Julie muttered. "What, do you want us to?"

"Hmph. I personally don't care what you do," Hydron growled. "If you're gonna do it, then do it already."

"Why do you want to die?" Mira questioned, suspicious.

"It's none of your business," Hydron scowled. Gus pressed down on the boys wrists and he whimpered, surprising the former Vexos. He sat up on his knees, making sure the boy's legs were still below him, and gently picked up his arm. He hissed in pain, starting to take it back, but Gus held on firmly. His eyes widened.

"You're father abused you again, didn't he?" Mira and Julie's eyes widened at the statement, but mostly at the fact that Hydron didn't deny it. Shun narrowed his eyes, his hand moving to grip the crystal hanging from his neck. Hydron looked away from Gus, who narrowed his eyes at the helpless boy. Gus sighed, standing up. Hydron's eyes flicked back to him, panicked.

"Don't you dare tell them! I forbid it!"

"Sorry, Hydron," Gus muttered. "I thought I had no sympathy available to give you, especially after you betrayed Master Spectra. But you're so desperate for your fathers approval, and all he does is beat you because you look like your mother-"

"You know nothing!" Hydron shot to his feet, his cape flying in the breeze he made. "You know nothing of what I've had to endure! You have no idea why he hates me! It's none of your business, so you can just stay out of it! We're enemies! I will defeat you, and then..." Hydron hissed, clenching his fists as his bangs shadowed his eyes.

Julie, Mira, and Gus all stared at him, Julie almost regretting kicking him so hard. But hearing him rant about how they should be enemies made her regret float away with the wind.

Hydron straightened up and launched himself at Mira, who easily avoided him by stepping to the side. His eyes widened as he fell to the ground at her feet, wincing when his bruised arms hit the uneven ground. He angrily stood up, turning to face the four Bakugan brawlers. Shun glared at him, Julie and Mira watched him with wide eyes, while Gus just stared intensely. Hydron muttered a curse under his breath and took a few steps back, holding onto his left wrist.

"This isn't over, you hear me?" he shouted. His form started to look like static, and then he was gone. Julie and the others stared at the spot where he had stood for a moment, going over the event in their minds. Gus sighed, turning to face the others. Julie, Shun, and Mira all looked at him, noticing the serious look on his face.

"Hydron was always beaten by his father," Gus began. "Ever since I joined the Vexos, I'd noticed the bruises he'd have whenever he returned from visiting his father on Vestal. He always would act tough and say that he got them by taking on some of his father's guards and got those bruises from his fights, but all of us knew something was up. It wasn't until his father came to visit that I realized he was actually being beaten and hated, and I happened to be in the hallway when his father beat him once.

"Hydron was begging him to stop, repeating over and over that he would take care of the Resistance soon, but Zenoheld called him a failure and hit him, shouting that it was Hydron's fault that his mother was dead." Julie and Mira were staring at him with wide, horrified eyes, while Shun had his closed and his jaw set, clearly disgusted. "When he paused, he cursed Hydron because he looked like his mother. He told him that unless Hydron took care of the Resistance, he would never love him. So Hydron tried harder and harder, eventually ordering us to keep Runo from going into the Gate and returning, and even going as far as trying to make Ves Palace self-destruct to take care of Dan and Spectra, hopefully crushing all resistant movement. As you can tell, that didn't work, and he pays the price of his failure every day." They were silent for a moment.

"That's just awful," Mira finally said, sounding completely horrified. "I knew that King Zenoheld was cruel, but to beat his own son? For something that he can't even help? That's just... just..."

"That's just messed up," Shun said. Julie and Mira glanced at him, their jaws dropping when they saw the handcuffs hanging on one wrist. He smirked at their faces and then picked up a rock from the ground and walked over to another one, kneeling down and proceeding to bang on the cuffs with it. Julie and Mira looked up at their Bakugan, who were watching them. Gus glanced up at Vulcan, who was looking towards the port.

"I think that they could use some back-up," the Bakugan said. Gus nodded, deciding to put the whole incident with Hydron behind him for now. Turning to the girls and Shun, he announced that he would be going to the port to help out Marucho and the others. Julie and Mira nodded while Shun didn't seem to notice, and then Vulcan picked Gus up on his hand.

"Good luck with the plan," he called as Vulcan flew toward the port.

Julie, Mira and Shun watched as he hurriedly approached the ocean and the battle over the sea, then Julie turned to Gorem.

"We should go to Wardington Tower," she said. "Marucho told us that we have to be ready in case we need to rely on plan C."

"Let's go then,"Shun said. "I'm already supposed to be there."

"Yeah," Mira agreed. Shun looked toward Wardington Tower, his eyes narrowed in speculation. Then, he pulled Ingram out from under his cape and jumped into the air.

"Bakugan, brawl! Bakugan, stand! Rise, Ventus Ingram!"he shouted as the Bakugan grew from its ball. Wilda lowered his hand to lift Mira up while Julie skated to Gorem's shoulder, and Shun simply leaped from the ground and landed on Ingram's shoulder. He crossed his arms, unconcerned, as Ingram took off toward the tower. Gorem and Wilda started walking and Julie skated after them, managing to keep up with Gorem's steady, large stride.

_This is gonna be a _long_ night_, she thought, watching more flames and light dance up from the park. She forced herself to look away, focusing on Wardington Tower. If they were needed, Julie, Mira and Shun would step in. But if they weren't, then they'd be there to call on anyway. And despite her craving for sleep, she felt a yearning for the thrill of battle.

And she would soon feel it.

**Ugh, I am SO sorry that I didn't update this! I know the chapter is short but I wanted to give you guys something to show I haven't forgotten about this (I know, it's been two months, but I'm gonna try to update again before Sunday. If I don't, Forever-Forgotten22, you'd better message me until I get my fingers on these keys again). I actually turned in a copy of the first chapter for a fanfiction I'm planning for my writing homework, but I don't plan on posting that until I finish this story. And possibly Dan and Runo's LegendProphecy. But don't worry, that idea has me psyched over the computer, as does the map of the coming chapter. (bwahahaha (xD)**

**Okay, now I'm gonna go take a shower and go to bed. Hope that satisfied some of you, even though I don't think that compares to anything I've previously written (-_-). Again, sorry I took so long to update, but thank you for your supportive reviews.**


	15. Loyalties

**Breezyfeather: And now for chapter 15!**

**Shun: You've been counting?**

**Breezyfeather: Well, yeah. If I don't, who will?**

**Shun: Okay good point.**

**Breezyfeather: (^_^)**

**Runo: I hate you.**

**Breezyfeather: What'd I do now?**

**Dan: ugh...**

**SPECTRA IS BACK! (screams)**

**Spectra: Get her OFF ME!**

**Breezy: (screams and glomps)**

**Gus: Master Spectra!**

Runo grimaced, ducking to avoid the blast that a Ventus Bakugan shot at her. She shot to the side, ducking around it, and then lifted her hands. Golden light appeared in her hands like a flame, and then it snaked around her arms and body. The Bakugan whirled around at the light, but Runo had already lowered her hands. The blast shot out, slamming into the chest of the Atmos. It screeched and fell back, swirling back into a ball.

Runo pulled back, breathing hard. Her throat was dry and she ached for a water bottle. The worst part about that was that there were coolers in the forest, strategically stationed for when they got thirsty. Runo thought about going to grab one now.

"Runo, heads up!" Dan shouted, shooting an arc of flame dangerously close to her hair. Runo ducked, barely avoiding her hair catching on fire. She turned to face Dan, her anger apparent on her face.

"You idiot! You could have caught my hair on fire!"

"Turn around and you'll see why I did it!" Dan called, turning to take care of another Bakugan with Drago. Runo turned around to see a Sub-Terra Bakugan swirl back into it's ball. She blinked, sighing.

"Sorry!" she yelled back at Dan.

"No prob," he called back, not looking at her but blocking an attack made by the Aquos Abis-Omega he was fighting.

Runo swooped down to Volt, Baron and Spectra, all of which were working on taking care of some of the numerous fighting Bakugan. Quickly, she shot behind Spectra, throwing up a shield against a blast coming at him. He gasped when he saw the light and heard the explosion from it and glanced up at Runo in shock. Helios looked back at the scene and then hit a Bakugan with his tail, causing it to fly back to it's owner.

"There's no end to this!" Runo shouted when the blast died down. She shot back up into the air and created a series of knives out of light, taking the design from the Athame. They formed an arc in front of her, and she swung her arm out to the side, sending them flying at the Verias that threatened Spectra.

"Thanks Runo!" Spectra called.

"Any time," she shouted back, shooting away from him to float by Baron. She panted there, feeling the desperate need for a water bottle. "Baron," she gasped when she could speak, "I'm gonna get a water, want one?"

"Yes please, and Dan might need one, too," he said. Runo nodded, jumping back up into the air. She easily streaked over to the forest and landed at the edge of it, making sure that no Bakugan or Vestals were within distance. She looked around, catching sight of Tigrerra.

"Tig!" she shouted, hoping that the large tiger-like Bakugan would hear her.

"Velocity fang!" Tigrerra shouted, slicing at a group of enemies that surrounded her. Runo watched nervously, but then grinned when all of the Bakugan swirled back into their balls.

"Tigrerra!" Runo called again, and the Bakugan glanced around. Runo waved at her from the ground and pointed to her hand. Tigrerra got the message and nodded, glowing and swirling back into her ball. Runo easily caught her when she flew into her hand and grinned, her wings dissolving into the air. Tigrerra's form popped out of the ball and looked up at Runo.

"Let's go get some water for everyone," Runo said. "We've been battling for an hour, and I'm parched."

"That sounds like a good idea, Runo," Tigrerra agreed. Runo smiled at her, then glared into the dark, eerie looking forest ahead of her. She took a few steps into it, only able to see because of the lights of the battle behind her. The raging flames and flashes of the Haos attribute revealed to her the fluttering strip of fabric tied to a tree branch, and marked the entrance to the path that would take her to the nearest cooler. She quickly ducked toward it, pushing through the bushes there with a wince.

"I'm gonna have to check for ticks later," she muttered, finding herself on the path. She easily started to run along it, creating an orb of light in her hand for her own convenience. It cast creepy shadows to the sides of the path, making her start and look around numerous times before realizing that she was only seeing shadows of tree branches.

"This is weird," Runo panted, stopping to rest her hands on her knees and regain her breath. "I didn't remember the path being this long. Or so overgrown..."

"Did you step off of it by accident?" Tigrerra asked. Runo straightened up, still panting, and looked around. She did recognize anything and groaned.

"Why? Why, every time, do I have to end up isolated?" she shouted.

Dan glanced around, confused and starting to become nervous. It had been fifteen minutes since he had last seen Runo, and he knew that she hadn't just gone to get water. If that had been the case, she would have returned by now. He did a 360 sweep, trying to figure out where she had gone, but he couldn't see her anywhere.

"Hey, Drago!" Dan shouted, shooting over to Drago's head. The dragon Bakugan paused in his assault, panting. "Have you seen Runo around here? Or Tigrerra?"

"No," Drago reported, glancing around. "I thought that she went to get water, though. Tigrerra wasn't hit by anything, she just transformed back into ball form and flew to Runo's hand."

"I'm gonna go look for her," Dan said. "Wanna take a break? We can signal-"

"Dan, you and Drago go," Spectra shouted from where he was perched on Helios' head. "Now! Something big is coming!"

"Yeah," Barron called. "But we'll handle it! You guys go find Master Runo! We'll handle this for now!"

"Go," Volt said, perched on Brontees. "If we need help we'll call Alice and the others."

Dan hesitated. While he was still undecided, the ground started to shake. This went unnoticed by him for a moment until Baron cried out, stumbling on the ground. Volt and Spectra glanced down at him and then the three boys noticed the earthquake. Dan hissed, trying to see what was causing it.

"Dan, just go!" Baron shouted. "We'll handle it!" Dan clenched his teeth, torn between wanting to find Runo and wanting to help his friends. Finally, he sighed, looking at Drago.

"If you're sure," Dan murmured, glancing away from Drago at the three of them. They nodded at him and he grinned, flying up into the air. "That's fine, but after I find her we're launching the plan!" He held up a hand and Drago glowed, returning to his ball form and shooting to Dan's hand. He caught the red Bakugan with ease and then dove down toward the ground, dodging multiple attacks from some of the remaining Bakugan.

"How are there still so many?" he muttered, zipping past them and toward the forest. He tucked Drago into his pocket to keep from loosing him and pulled out the Athame, which was tucked into his belt. He had been given the task of guarding the Athame because he was the leader, and it was simply part of the plan. He stared at the jewel encrusted hilt, watching the red stone blaze. It glowed dimly, but it looked like a flame danced inside it.

Without thinking, Dan made a red shield appear around him like a bubble. Any attacks that collided with it caused the shield to ripple, but it didn't ever come close to breaking. Dan grinned as he came close to the ground, the shield melting away as he landed lightly on his feet. He glanced into the forest, at the dark, ominous shadows cast from the battle raging behind him. He dreaded the thought of enemies lurking in that darkness, and the fact that the one person he cared about most was currently hidden amongst those threatening shadows.

With that thought, his wings blazed blue with an increased heat. He glared into the forest, deciding that he would not let Hydron reach Runo first. He leaped forward, making his wings vanish into the air behind him so that the underbrush would not catch on fire. With some difficulty, he found the path leading into the forest, but he relaxed slightly knowing that he had found it. This was the one leading east, and he was sure that Runo had taken this one.

"Runo!" he called out, sprinting down the path. Roots seemed to leap up out of the dirt and try to trip him up, but he caught himself each and every time they snaked around his ankles. Leaves and branches slapped him in the face, some of them tearing the skin on his cheeks, but he didn't care. Thorns tore at his jacket, most of them bouncing off harmlessly, but a few managed to claw at his neck. The bandages on Dan's forehead somehow stayed firmly tied in place, but he could feel them slowly becoming damp. He knew he'd have to go find Marucho in a little while and get them replaced, or he would be in trouble.

"Runo!" he shouted again, then gasped as he tripped. He felt himself roll along the dirt and come slowly to a halt, and when he sat up his bandage slipped off.

Panting, he got to his feet, looking around and blinking in the darkness. Drago rolled out of Dan's pocket, groaning. "What happened?" he asked.

"I tripped," Dan muttered, looking around. He brushed a piece of hair out of his eyes, grimacing when his fingers brushed his wound and came back soaked in a coppery smelling fluid.

A flame sparked to life when Dan snapped the fingers of his not bloody hand and showed Drago the red liquid dripping down Dan's face. The Pyrus Bakugan was silent as he took in the amount of blood that had already made its way past Dan's eyes and nose, looking like colored tears collecting under his chin.

"Dan, you need to get new bandages," Drago said after a moment. Dan shook his head, panting still.

"No, I've gotta make sure Runo's alright," he said stubbornly. Drago watched his brawler as he looked through the forest, holding his arm above his head.

"Dan, if you fall because you lost too much blood here, you won't be found. You'll die, and you won't be of any use to anyone," Drago pointed out. Dan shook his head again, looking back at the small red marble.

"I'll find her soon. Then I'll go to Marucho, okay?"

"Dan-"

"Drago, I'll be fine!"

"You should listen to your partner you know." A raspy voice drifted out of the shadows, making Dan jump.

"Who's there?" Drago demanded while Dan felt the flame in his hand increase in heat dramatically. Adrenaline made Dan's heart beat faster and he felt his hands shaking slightly from it. He was ready to fight if he had to, especially if the owner of the voice had Runo.

At first it was silent, confusing the partners. Then came the sound of footsteps lightly being taken in the dirt. Dan and Drago stiffened, the flame turning blue in Dan's hand. The person stepped within range of the flame's light, casting shadows along his features. His eyes were shadowed, as was his mouth, but Dan could make out the dark skin tone of the figure, and the shape of the silvery spiked hair. The black shirt hugged the figures chest and Dan realized at once who it was. Unsure if he should be anxious or relaxed around this figure, Dan decided not to lower his flame. It wasn't until the figure lifted his arms in a gesture of peace that Dan lowered his fire-based weapon.

"Relax, will you?" Ren said and Dan sighed, turning away.

"What do you want?" Dan asked. "I'm in a hurry."

"You won't be getting anywhere with that wound, and you know it," the boy said, cutting straight to the point. Dan's eyes flashed as he glanced back at the Darkus brawler, who calmly met his gaze.

"Look, I appreciate the offer, but no thanks. Go away, I don't need any help," he said. Dan looked away from the dark skinned boy and started to continue into the woods, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He whirled around, angry, but was met with a fist to his jaw. Dan gasped, stumbling backward.

"Dan!" Drago called out, worried about his brawler. He hesitated before attacking Ren, though, sensing good intentions behind the violence.

"Look, you won't be able to do anything if you die of blood loss. Runo is lost in this forest, and Hydron just happens to be looking for her like you. So if you want to actually help her, let me help you." The silver haired boy pulled out a first aid kit, showing Dan that he was serious. Dan rubbed his jaw angrily, but nodded, knowing that if Hydron were here looking for Runo, too, things wouldn't end well if he weren't at his full strength.

He let his flame float in the air between the two of them as Ren unzipped the first aid kit and pulled out an alcoholic wipe. He lifted some of Dan's hair and pushed it up onto his head, then gently cleaned the wound. Dan hissed and clenched his teeth, but otherwise remained silent while Ren cleaned up the wound.

The brawler reached for a gauze pad then and pressed it firmly against Dan's forehead, so much so that it was instantly soaked with blood. Ren narrowed his eyes and reached for another, placing extra pads on the wound until it was seven thick and probably not going to be moving any time soon. Ren then grabbed doctors tape and pushed Dan's hair out of the way again, taking a water bottle and pouring it over his head. He was careful to miss the gauze pad and made Dan tip his head back before pouring it, but it would keep the hair from sticking together from blood. Dan didn't say anything in protest but looked a little surprised when the cold liquid splashed onto his head. Ren wiped his head with his won arm and then taped down the gauze, hoping that he hadn't taped down any of Dan's hair by accident.

Once he had done that, he took an Ace bandage and circled Dan's head with it, hoping that if Dan sweat a lot the bandage would at least stay in place in time for him to get some help. Ren tied the bandage in a secure knot and then took a moment to admire his handiwork. After giving a satisfied grin, he started to pack up his materials. Dan felt along his forehead and sighed.

"Thanks," he mumbled. Ren shrugged and stood up, watching Dan carefully as the Pyrus brawler got to his feet. He stumbled slightly, but regained his footing easily. Ren tossed him the water bottle, which Dan desperately gulped water from. He gasped for air when he was finished, startled to see that he had drained the bottle completely.

"Thirsty?" Ren asked, a small grin on his face. Dan rolled his eyes and tossed the bottle back to Ren, who tucked it into the cooler that Dan now realized was right behind him. He blinked, then panicked, looking around wildly. Runo had been looking for this place. This would have been her destination. But where was she?

"Runo!" Dan shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Runoooooo! Where are you?"

"Dan, quiet," Ren hissed. "If she responds, Hydron will hear her, too, and he might get to her first." Dan muttered a few choice words under his breath and Ren sighed, looking into the darkness. "Dan, turn out the light."

"What?" Dan asked, confused. "If I do that, how can we see?"

"Just do it," Ren growled and Dan obliged, making the floating ball of fire dissolve into the air.

"I don't understand what you're-" Dan started, but Ren held up an arm and Dan fell silent, becoming slightly annoyed.

"That way. There's someone over that way," Ren said, pointing through the darkness. Dan strained his eyes to see what he was pointing at, struggling to hear what he implied he had heard. After a moment of struggling he turned back to the golden eyed boy in confusion.

"How-?"

"You don't need to know. Come on, I think Runo's in trouble," Ren said, starting to sprint off of the path into the underbrush. Dan's fists clenched and he gritted his teeth, plunging into the darkness after the teen, Drago perched on his shoulder.

The two had a time dodging thorn bushes and branches, and Dan knew he would have quite a few bruises and scratches when he woke up in the morning. He didn't care at the moment, though, a bad feeling rising like bile in his throat. He ducked and tripped, but each time he went down, he forced himself to get back up, knowing that he had to get to Runo.

"Runo!" he shouted, unable to resist calling out for the blue haired girl. He hoped that she would reply, but after a moment of silence, he sighed and ducked again.

"Dan?" A response cried out from nearby. Fear was evident in her voice. "Dan, is that you?"

"Runo!" Dan gasped, skidding to a halt. He held up a hand, a flame dancing to life. Ren slowed and looked back at Dan, tense. "Runo, hold up a ball of light, or make your wings appear." It was silent for a moment, then a huge burst of light grew from Dan's left. His light vanished and he started to run in that direction, but he was once again stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

He angrily whirled around to face Ren, who's face was impassive. "What?"

"I don't think that she's alone," the boy said simply. "I think Hydron's with her."

"What are you talking about?" Dan hissed. "She's fine!"

"Couldn't you hear the fear in her voice? Aren't you her boyfriend?" Dan's anger melted away from his features and his muscles relaxed in confusion, then he tensed up again.

"What do you mean?"

"She's not alone. She sounded so scared because Hydron is there with her." Dan could see many things wrong with this scenario and hesitated, then chose one to bring up.

"Why do you even care? Aren't you working with him?"

"I helped get you out of that situation before, didn't I?" Ren asked, grinning at Dan. Dan narrowed his eyes at him, but nodded. "Then can't you trust me?"

"A little, I guess," Dan murmured. "If you cross me though, you'll pay big time."

"You can count on it," Drago agreed. Ren smirked and nodded, accepting the threat without worry.

"Be careful. I heard him talk about isolating you guys," Ren said, his expression growing serious once more. "He will most likely want to get each of you on your own and take you down, especially Runo."

"Hm," Dan muttered, then turned to face the woods before him. The final barrier between him and Runo.

"Should it look like I captured you?" Ren asked, stepping up to stand next to the Pyrus brawler.

"Might be best, if you're supposed to be on his side," Dan said, staring at the leaves baring him from the blue haired girl he loved. He turned to look at Ren, his face showing a boyish grin. "Let's have a little fun with this."

"What do you mean?" Ren asked, but Dan tackled him then, letting out a yell of surprise, then a loud grunt. Ren quickly caught on and rolled on top of Dan, the two wrestling on the ground. Dan and Ren rolled over and over in a mock wrestling match, and Ren yelled out, "You're not getting away!"

"Let me go!" Dan shouted, trying to keep the grin out of his voice.

"Dan!" Runo cried, but her cry was cut short, making Dan freeze. Ren stiffened, glancing toward where the voice had come from. The two boys instantly realized that Ren had been right. Hydron did have Runo.

Dan let Ren lift him to his feet and twist his arms behind his back, hissing in pain when Ren did it a little too forcefully. "Sorry," Ren murmured, pushing him forward. "That's right, keep moving," he said louder. Ren led Dan through the leaves into a clearing which was suddenly ablaze with light. Dan and Ren both grimaced while Dan gasped at the harshness of it. It was nothing like Runo's light, which was natural and softer than this. This was the type of light he recognized as electric.

"Well well well," an amused voice drawled, making Dan squint. "Who do we have here?"

"Dan," Runo whispered, her voice soft and fear filled. Dan opened his eyes, searching for hers, and finding her surrounded by Vestal guards with glowing swords. He hissed.

"Runo!"

"I found him lurking outside, Sir," Ren said, meeting Hydron's gaze with his impassive one.

"Good work, Ren," Hydron praised, strolling up to the angry Pyrus brawler. "So... I think its high time we have our little fight, wouldn't you agree?"

Dan hissed, glaring at Hydron's amused face. After a moment, Dan's lips curled into a smirk.

"That's fine, as long as Runo fights with me and it's hand to hand combat."

"Will you give me the knife?"

"Sure, why not?" Ren released Dan and he pulled the knife out of his belt, handing it hilt-first to the waiting blond. He smirked and lifted a hand. The guards holding Runo released her and she blinked, then hurried over to Dan.

"What are you doing?" she hissed. Dan grinned and she blinked, confused.

"Don't worry, just follow my lead," he said.

**In the next chapter, that is!**

**Dan: I hate you.**

**Runo: ditto.**

**Breezyfeather: Tough luck.**

**Review? Forever-Forgotten22 beat me in our update race. Granted, she didn't even know we were racing...**

**Anyway, review please!**


	16. Illusions and Possession

**Here's a big shoutout for JazzGirl123, Forever-Forgotten22, elle beybee, and Sharpay Evans 11 for your supportive and continued reviews! I love you guys! And PussyCatMewMew, too! Hm... I haven't heard from her in a while... Anyway I love you too! Thank you for your support throughout the story!**

**Forever-Forgotten22 asked me why Runo always got captured. Well... (devious smirk) who said that was Runo?**

**Dan: Uh, you did?**

**Shun: ?**

**Ren: … Oh!**

**Breezyfeather: (evil grin)**

Dan stood next to Runo in the clearing, energy running through his veins. He clenched his fists and sparks floated up next to his face, and his wings blazed blue behind him. He jumped up, shooting up faster than he had intended. However, he was able to regain control with ease and hovered a few feet above the ground, narrowing his eyes at Hydron.

Hydron smirked at him and held the knife up above his head, the gems glowing. Dan felt a jolt pulse through him and his eyes widened ever so slightly. Hydron didn't seem to notice but Ren raised an eyebrow at Dan in confusion. He shrugged, trying to hide his nervousness about Hydron wielding the knife.

_Dan, are you stupid? Remember what Volt said!_ he thought, nibbling on the inside of his cheek. He knew what the Haos brawler had said, but the prince still made him nervous. His feet touched the ground again as he waited for his comrade to join him in the air.

Dan glanced to the side at Runo, confused that she was still standing there, looking unsure of what she was supposed to be doing. "Runo?" he asked and she jumped, grinning at him stupidly with her eyes closed. "What are you...?"

"I... uh, I was just getting ready to, uh, give these guys a real thrashing!" She laughed nervously and Dan stared at her, knowing that there was something up with this.

"Uh... right... Anyway, come on! Let's get going!"

"What?" Dan stared at her, noting how she looked like she was panicking. Her golden eyes kept flicking back and forth between Ren and Hydron, and sweat was beading on the side of her face. Wait, _golden eyes_?

He stiffened, taking a step away from Runo, and her eyes flicked back to him. "Wh-what's wrong?" she asked, looking even more nervous than before.

"Runo?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her. He glanced at Ren, who bowed his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. He turned his gaze back to Runo, noting how her pigtails were perfect and not at all tangled. The last time he had seen her, they had been snarled and coming loose. Dan felt fear for Runo raise in him again and he found his hands shaking.

"You're not Runo!" he shouted, pointing at the Runo-wannabe.

She gasped and whirled around to stare at Hydron, who looked mad. She quickly tried to cover for her mistake, smiling stupidly at Dan. "What are you talking about, it's me!"

"Right. What did I give you for Christmas?" The girl sweat-dropped and let out choked confused noises.

"Uh, you, uh, you gave me, uh, this, this bracelet! Yeah, the bracelet!" she stuttered, still grinning like an idiot and pointing at the gold charm bracelet on her right wrist. Dan glared at her, crossing his arms. Flames burst into being around him, making the girl's eyes widen.

"You bought that a few days after we got to Hawaii," Dan growled, his wings growing and becoming white. "I bought you the white bracelet that you hid with your parents when you returned here to Wardington, and the hair ties you're wearing right now."

"Yeah, that's right!" she laughed, rubbing the back of her neck and keeping her eyes shut tight. Dan glared at her as she hissed, "What's a Hawaii?" to what Dan assumed was her Bakugan.

"Give it up," he ordered, the flames surrounding him blazing white as well. "You can try to deny it all you want, but I know you're lying." The girl's expression darkened, a strange look to see on Runo's usually grinning face. Dan tried to ignore the transition, but she seemed to notice his unease.

"Ugh! I hate it when people find me out!" the blue haired girl before him shouted. "You know your weird girlfriend too well!" The girl glared at Dan as golden energy snaked up from her feet, making Dan gasp. Hydron's eyes widened at the transformation while Ren just glanced at her, uninterested. The girl was completely surrounded by golden energy for a second, then it dispersed, showing a girl with a purple hat covering most of her green hair and eye. She had a blue belly shirt and a yellow jacket on her torso and a short white skirt with blue leggins on her lower body. Her golden eyes were just like Ren's, and she flashed Dan a quick smirk before becoming serious once more. Dan blinked, the flames turning blue, then they quickly heated back up again.

"Where's Runo?" he demanded, the fire shooting around him like electrons surrounding an atom. The girl gasped, just like Ren and Hydron, as a circle of flame blazed to life at his feet. "Where is she?" he shouted, fire shooting up around him and casting eerie shadows across his person. The lights in the clearing all suddenly went out at the same time, leaving his fire as the only source of light. Hydron, Ren, and the girl took nervous steps back, the heat of the fire disturbing them.

"Zenet, run!" Ren cried. The girl didn't have to be told twice; she bolted without a second thought. Dan glared at Ren and Hydron next, making Hydron raise the knife.

"Don't you come near me!" he ordered, but fear took away from the threat. Dan smirked at him, and the expression combined with the flames made him look positively evil. Hydron's face fell with a small, "What?", and the flames shot upward into the sky. Dan's eyes took on a demonic glow and he glared, furoius, at the prince.

"Give it back. Give Runo back. Where is she?" he snarled. Ren was unable to tell the borderline between the boy's wings and the column of fire now surrounding him, and he could tell that using Zenet as a decoy to mislead the prince was a very, very stupid idea. An error of judgement on his part. A huge error that could cost him his life, he now realized.

"Dan, wait," Ren protested, taking a step toward the enraged Pyrus brawler, but was forced back when a wall of flame sprang to life under his feet.

"You stay away!" Dan hissed. "You tricked me! You... you... what did you do with Runo?" Ren hissed, stepping back from Dan.

"Dan, calm down!" a voice shouted. Dan and the other two in the clearing looked up, Dan angrilly regarding the ally that joined him. The black haired ninja landed to the right of Ren, in between he and Hydron.

"What?" Dan snarled, looking positively feral. The flame wall parted to let Shun through, and Shun slowly walked toward Dan, mindful of the dancing flames around him.

"Dan, calm down. Runo's fine." He reached out to touch Dan but yanked his hand back when his own skin began to smolder. He hissed in pain and rubbed his fingers, recalling something that Ace had said to him.

"_I'm worried about Dan," the Darkus brawler had said. Shun stopped walking in the hallway and turned to face Ace._

"_What do you mean?" he asked. Ace looked at him for a moment, then sighed._

"_Dan is fire. He loves Runo, and Hydron has some sort of grudge against her, right?" he asked. Shun slowly nodded. "I'm worried about Dan's powers."_

"_Where are you going with this?" Shun asked. "Are you worried he'll loose control?"_

"_Exactly," Ace confirmed. "Listen. Dan gets really mad when Hydron threatens Runo. So far, Hydron hasn't angered him while he's had complete awareness of his abilities. And when he did, Dan hadn't been in possession of his Crystal, which magnifies his abilities to such an extent that they can become lethal. I'm worried that if Dan gets mad enough, he'll completely loose control."_

"_I understand that, but Runo won't let him get that mad," Shun said, confident in his friends. Ace shook his head._

"_No, you don't understand. Emotions are taken to a different level with those crystals. Love is a very, very powerful emotion. If your loved one is threatened, you want to save them. Love for another person... Dan feels that for Runo, and it's because of that that I'm worried._

"_Hydron knows Dan's feelings, and he won't hesitate to use them to his advantage. If he does that, Dan won't be able to restrain himself. He'll go berserk, and unless someone can calm him down, he can go on a destructive rampage, harming innocents without even meaning to. It's the same for all of you, and you're the one I'm the least concerned with. I think that if Dan were to loose it, you'd be able to bring him back, but you might have difficulty."_

Shun's fingers clenched around the gem in his hand, which he felt pulse with Skyrus's presence. He had to bring Dan back, but with the fire all around him it would be next to impossible.

"Where is she?" Dan hissed, his voice barely loud enough to be heard over the flames. Shun reached out to him again, finding a protective glove of water surrounding his fingers. Dan narrowed his eyes at it and the two boys glanced to the side, catching sight of Marucho. His index, middle fingers and thumbs formed a triangle in front of his chest, and a glowing magic circle was spinning slowly beneath his feet.

"Marucho!" Shun exclaimed. The blond nodded and the light of the flames reflected off of his glasses eerily.

"Bring him back, I'll back you up," he called. Shun nodded, flashing him a brief grin, then turned his serious gaze back to Dan. The boy still looked like he was about to go insane, his red eyes glowing crimson, as flames shot up around him. Shun reached forward, trying to grasp Dan's shoulder, but the water glove around his hand instantly vaporized, leaving Shun to yank his hand back in pain once more.

"Sorry Shun," Marucho called.

"Don't worry about it," Shun replied. "Dan, Runo is _fine_. She made it out of the woods and started heading for Wardington tower a little while ago, after radioing Spectra and the others."

"You're lying. That was her imposter. It had to be," Dan hissed, and Shun could feel the skin on his cheeks begin to burn. He grimaced when a flame shot at him, causing him to duck and spring backward. He ended up standing right between Hydron and Ren, both of whom looked angry. Shun turned to Hydron, seeing the knife grasped in his hand. Shun's eyes narrowed and he snatched it from the boy-prince, earning a yelp of protest.

"Do you want to live without burning up in Hell?" Shun demanded. Hydron glared at him. "Because if we don't do something, here is where we'll be trapped, and this Hell Fire is what's gonna trap us. He'll burn down the whole forest and none of us will make it out." Marucho ran over to them, looking up at Shun nervously. "We've got to make it through to him, and I can do that with this."

"What are you going to do, slice his arm off?" Hydron asked, seething. Shun rolled his eyes.

"You obviously don't know anything about this. The knife can only protect. It is unable to inflict damage upon anyone," Shun said, glaring at the younger boy. Hydron's eyes widened. "And besides that, only the Chosen of the Ancients can wield it."

"I-impossible," Hydron whispered. "But..."

"Marucho, cover me!" Shun said, holding the knife up above his head. A green dome of wind surrounded him instantly, and Shun could feel Skyrus right there with him. He narrowed his eyes at Dan, then ran up to him, lowering the knife but maintaining the sheild.

"Dan, listen to me!" he shouted. "Runo is fine! She's safe! I promise you!" Dan's eyes softened ever so slightly, then hardened so quickly once again that Shun was unsure that he had seen anything at all. "Dan, I wouldn't lie to you! I'm your best friend!" Dan's eyes widened for a split second, loosing their demonic glow. _Yes! I got through to him! _Shun's hope was snuffed out a second later when the glow returned, and the flames shot at Shun's face.

Shun didn't flinch as the fire was diverted along the shield, instead, he narrowed his eyes. "Shun!" Marucho cried out, but Shun didn't respond. His cape blew billowed out behind him, but his feet were planted firmly in the dirt. The shield held strongly, not giving in the slightest. Shun was amazed when the river of flame ceased flowing, as there wasn't even a hint of the impact on the shield. No cracks, no scratches, not even the slightest trace of heat. But and then again, the shield was made of wind, and that gave even more of a reason to be surprised.

"Dan, listen to me!" Shun shouted. "Runo is safe! Do you think I'd lie to you? Do you think that all those years we've spent as friends was just a facade? Dan, she's my friend, too!" The glow in his eyes dimmed, then grew, then dimmed again. Dan grimaced, sinking to his knees, clutching his head.

"Dan!" Marucho shouted, starting to make his way toward the Pyrus brawler, but yelping when a save of flames rose in front of him. Marucho hissed, holding up his hands. He had molded his gem into the jewels on his gloves, so it was easy for him to use his magic. He crossed his arms over his chest, closing his eyes as the gems began to glow. A magic circle grew from beneath him, glowing and casting eerie shadows over his face and glasses. A few seconds past, and then Marucho opened his eyes.

"Freezing waters, Aquos Soldier Frosch, I call upon your powers to save my friends," Marucho cried, spreading his arms out to his sides. A huge wave of water shot out from his chest and the gems on his gloves, spiraling toward Dan. The Pyrus battler didn't look up as the wave crashed over the ground toward him, smothering the fires around him. Shun jumped back just in time to escape being covered in water, but Dan wasn't so lucky. The wave washed over him easily, snuffing out the flames that surrounded him. Shun jumped forward then, plunging into the water covering the now soaking Dan Kuso.

He easily moved through the liquid, as though it were air. He assumed that it was because of the knife, and he was very thankful for it's power at that moment. It took his amber eyes a moment to adjust to the now midnight scene, as the flames had provided him with the light he needed to see what he was doing. Now he couldn't even see a few feet in front of his face, and he knew it wasn't just because of the water.

When his hands brushed a warm fabric, Shun's fingers automatically closed around the collar. He braced his feet against the ground, trying to see the face of whomever he was saving. A light suddenly appeared above them, making Shun look up in surprise. He quickly turned his attention back to the boy he was saving, realizing that it was, indeed, his best friend. The boy's eyes were closed, though, and he looked completely relaxed. Shun bit his lip to keep from gulping in water as he pushed toward the surface, dragging Dan with him.

Shun kicked out forcefully, propelling himself toward the light above. He started to be able to make out a familiar, humanoid figure floating in the air above the water, with glowing yellow leaves for wings. The water suddenly vaporized, making Shun gasp as gravity seized him. He and Dan slammed into the ground a second later, earning a pained grunt from the black-haired ninja. Dan didn't respond, and as Shun sat up, rubbing his head, a certain blue haired female dashed by him.

"Dan!" she shouted, skidding on her knees along the muddy ground. She stopped just short of Dan and crawled the last few inches, grabbing his shoulders. "Dan, wake up! Dan! It's me! I'm fine! Dan!"

Shun shot to his feet and joined her, except on Dan's other side. He grabbed Dan's arms and narrowed his eyes at Runo. She glared at him but let go, allowing Shun to lean over Dan's mouth. His ear hovered there, checking for Dan's breath. It was there, but it was very faint. The ninja hissed and knelt next to Dan, pressing his hands against his sternum. He pressed down firmly and released, then repeated it several times, until the boy started coughing.

"Dan!" Runo gasped, her knuckles white as she clutched his hand in her own. At first, there was no response other than Dan's choking and sputtering, then a small squeeze came back to her. She felt tears sting her eyes as she flung her arms around his neck. "Dan, thank God!" His eyes opened slowly, squinting at the dark-clad ninja.

"Sh-Shun?" Dan whispered, and he glanced around, confused. "But... what...?"

"Don't ever do that to me again!" Runo cried, hot tears streaming down her face as she pulled back from strangling the soaked boy.

"You do realize that you said that the first time, right?" Keith asked, walking up behind the startled girl. Dan blinked up at Keith, then smiled faintly.

"Sorry," Dan said, hugging Runo back. She shook her head, wiping her tears. After a moment, she stood up again, turning to face Hydron and Ren. At her icy glare, Hydron took a step back while Ren stared at her, coolly. She raised an eyebrow at him, then started to walk toward the spoiled prince.

"Leave. NOW!" she shouted, her wings pulsing with white light. Hydron and Ren hissed, covering their eyes. "I don't care that you hate me! Leave the planet, _now_, or I'll _make you_." Hydron stared at her with his mouth slightly open for a moment, then rage overcame his features.

"You dare order _me?_ Unforgivable! _You_ are the one that-"

"Get. Over. It," Runo hissed. Hydron was shaking with acrimony and he opened his mouth to rant again, but Runo took several threatening steps toward him and grabbed his arm. "You have to get over the fact that I broke my promise," she hissed. "Why does it even mater? We're _enemies_, get that through your head! What else could you expect when I had been yanked from my home and my friends just a few days before one of the most important family holidays of the year? You need to get over yourself and face facts: _it doesn't mater_. At all. Period," she snarled. Hydron stared at her with wide eyes, then launched himself at her.

With a gasp, the two rolled over on the wet ground, Hydron ending up on top. Runo hissed, her wings vanishing, as she struggled to throw him off. She rolled to the left, taking him with her, and tried to gain the upper hand. Within seconds, though, the boy had flipped her again, and she was trying to get his hands off of her shoulders.

"Runo!" Dan shouted, starting to get up to aid her, but she shook her head.

"No Dan!" she grunted, kicking Hydron in the stomach. "I'll do this myself. He wanted a fight with me, right? Well, he's got it!" Dan, Shun, Keith and Marucho all stared at her, open mouthed, while Julie skated over the treeline with Alice behind her.

"Dan! Runo!" Alice shouted.

"Are you guys okay? We got Marucho's message!" Julie cried, skidding to a halt next to Shun. She glanced at their startled expressions, then followed their gazes. She gasped when she witnessed Runo grab onto Hydron and push off the earthy cushion beneath them, sending them sprawling across the damp ground.

"Runo!" Alice gasped, starting toward the two brawling teens, but Ren stuck out an arm, looking grim. Alice glared at him as he turned to face her.

"This is their fight. If they don't do this, Hydron won't ever leave her alone," he said. "Even though it looks unorganized, this is their fight."

"Oh... but," Julie murmured as Keith helped Dan to his feet. Shun ducked under Dan's other arm, earning a murmured, "Thanks," from the boy.

"Will you get it through your head that it doesn't matter?" Runo snarled, springing off of him and up into the air. Her wings caught her as she hovered a few feet above the ground, giving Hydron a chance to get to his feet. He hissed, glaring at her, as she slowly sank toward the ground.

"You will not humiliate me!" he shouted, springing at her again. Runo sidestepped, making him gasp as his hand closed on empty air.

"Get over yourself!" she shouted, jumping back. His pupils shrank as his animosity increased even further, and he whirled around to face her. A blade grew from a small piece of metal in his hand as he leaped toward her, earning a gasp out of everyone watching.

"SHUT UP!" Hydron screamed, slashing at her. She yelped, ducking at the very last second. He lifted the blade with a fluid motion, bringing it down just above her. She sprang to the side, shivering when she felt the vibration cut through her wing as his sword slashed through the lighted appendages on her back.

"Runo!" Dan shouted, trying to make his way toward her, but Keith and Shun held onto him tightly. He grimaced, worry for the one he loved cutting through him.

Runo leaped up into the air, hovering above Hydron's reach. He whirled around, looking for her, then glanced up. Runo watched him nervously, biting her lip, as he slashed at the air near her foot.

"Get down here and fight me, you coward!" he screeched, his purple eyes wide with insanity. Runo hissed and took the bait, a saber of light growing in her hand. Ren's eyes narrowed as Linehalt perked up on his shoulder, glancing at the dark-skinned brawler.

"That's weirdly similar to our ability, Dark Saber,"Linehalt whispered. Ren nodded slightly, watching as the blades collided in the air.

Runo yanked hers back up and brought it to the side of Hydron, making sure that he wouldn't get cut as she pressed it, hard, against his side. He gasped as he was forced to the left (**you know, it's only when the key jams that you realize just how much you need the "a" key -_-**), throwing out his arms to catch himself. He made a point of tightening his grip on the hilt of his sword, not letting it out of his reach. Runo hesitated, not wanting to seriously hurt him, but waited a moment too long. He quickly recovered, launching himself at her. She gasped, bracing her blade in between her hands and blocking his attack.

He stumbled backward at this imbalance, and she pushed off from the ground toward him. His sharp intake of air was easily recognized as he was forced to step back. The blade in his hand flew from his fingers as his back slammed into the ground, and this time Runo didn't hang back. She jumped forward, her wings gently carrying her over him. Her hands closed around his wrists, and before he could react, he was pinned.

He thrashed under her, making Runo grimace, but Julie started to count. "One... two...three..." Dan glanced at her, then joined in, followed by the others. Hydron bucked and struggled to throw her off, and he only succeeded at the eight second mark. His leg came up and caught her on the side, making her grimace. Her grip loosened and he threw her off, making her rock backward in surprise. Her feet were still touching the ground, though, and she sprang up, making him hiss in annoyance. She shot upward, then circled, bracing her glowing rod of light between her hands. The long, bare part of the glowing rod slammed into Hydron's chest, forcing a startled, "oof!" out of the prince. He was pinned to the ground instantly, and Runo didn't waste her time bending the rod into what looked like a croquet hoop around Hydron's chest. It pinned him to the ground easily, and no matter how much he struggled, he couldn't disengage it.

Runo pressed hard against his wrists when she managed to snatch them out of the air, forcing his shoulders against the ground. Julie and Dan started counting again, then Marucho and Alice joined in, followed by Shun, Ren, and Keith. "Three... four... five..."

Runo grimaced at Hydron's struggles, the words uttered by her allies not reaching her ears. She had to float in the air and hold down his hands for fear of him kicking her again, but it was effective. Dan and the others reached the count of ten, at which point Runo released Hydron and jumped up, shooting up above him.

Dan was grinning from ear to ear while the others seemed nervous, stiffly watching as Hydron sat up. The boy prince slowly rested an arm on his leg, his eyes wide with shock that he had lost. He stared at the ground in front of him, tying to make sense of this impossibility, while Runo floated above him, out of reach. He blinked, panting, and his eyes slowly returned to normal. A few Vestal guards that had been watching the ordeal hurried forward then, helping Hydron to his feet. Hydron waved them off, at which point one of them leaned to whisper something in Hydron's ear. Hydron shot him a fierce, piercing glare, and the guard took a step back. Hydron sighed, standing up.

"I guess... that I was stupid, huh?" he said, not meeting Dan's gaze. Dan was taken aback, confused at what had just happened. Thirty seconds ago, the kid had been trying to kill Runo, his eyes crazy with a sadistic quality that was almost impossible to replicate, and now... what was he doing now?

Ren allowed a small grin to grace his features, earning a confused look from Runo and the others. Hydron shot him a slightly annoyed look, then sighed, shaking his head. "I was an idiot..."

"I didn't think that I'd be able to convert you, Hydron," Ren smiled, walking forward. "But it looks like I was wrong."

"Hmph. Don't get too full of yourself," Hydron muttered, refusing to meet his gaze as he rubbed his head. "It just took a loss to prove it."

"Um, care to enlighten the rest of us?" Dan asked, looking suspicious. "Ren?" Ren turned to face Dan, grinning.

"I was sent to help Hydron in his conquest of New Vestroia," Ren explained, earning a few wide eyed looks from the Brawlers. "And I noticed his behavior several times. Someone came up to me once and asked me if I could work on improving Hydron's attitude, which I've been working on for a while. Runo didn't exactly help that, but after a long time of working at it, it looks like I've finally succeeded."

Dan and the others stared at him, mouths agape, as they tried to process this. The whole time Hydron had been attempting to kill them and Runo was just because he needed an attitude adjustment and refused to cooperate? Dan found it hard to believe, as did Keith and the rest of those watching.

"Riiiight," Runo muttered, landing next to Dan. "Are you sure we're gonna believe that?" Hydron rolled his eyes, twisting a lock of hair around his finger.

"You can't blame them, Hydron," Ren said, glancing back at the prince. "You did-"

"I know what I did," Hydron snapped. "And can you blame me? You know what my father's like!"

"His... father?" Alice asked. Marucho looked confused, too, as did Runo and Dan. Julie and Shun sighed.

"Worry about it later, we'll fill you in," Julie said. "But can someone please explain what the heck we do now?" They glanced around at each other, confused, as now they didn't know whose side anyone was on, in a stunned silence. Hydron looked away, crossing his arms as he stared at the charred earth.

After a moment, Hydron's eyes widened and his gaze snapped toward the Brawlers. Well, above them. The purple orb were filled with horror, a look seldom seen on his face. Keith and the others whirled around, following Hydron's gaze, and mirroring looks appeared on their faces.

"No way," Shun whispered, his grip on the knife slackening.

"That's impossible!" Marucho breathed.

"Can it be...?" Keith murmured, looking just as awestruck as everyone else. A huge, glowing ship was floating in the sky above Wardington, but far enough off that it appeared to be a fraction of the moon's size. Colored lights were lit on the sides, starting to glow like far off stars.

"What is that?" Alice asked. Runo and Dan stared up at it with astonished eyes, then they turned to look at Hydron.

"No... he wouldn't," Hydron whispered.

"I think he would," Ren murmured.

"Who's 'he'?" Dan demanded.

"His father," Shun said. Hydron nodded, looking shaken.

"He's gonna destroy the planet..." Dan and the others gasped, staring at Hydron with renewed disbelief.

"Say what?" Dan cried.

"You can't be serious!" Julie exclaimed.

"There's no way! I thought this was all over when we took down Naga!" Alice gasped.

"Obviously that's not the case," a deep, raspy voice said. The group turned with hisses and confused noises to face the tall, plump figure of King Zenoheld. "You will fall before me, and New Vestroia will be mine!"

"Yeah, in your dreams, pal," Dan said, stepping away from Shun and Keith. "If you think you're gonna destroy Earth, you're gonna have to deal with all of us!"

"Yeah!" everyone but Hydron and Ren echoed. Zenoheld narrowed his eyes at the group of teens, his cape billowing behind him.

"Heh. If you think you so much as stand a chance against me, then you're wrong," he said. "Hydron! Ren! Join me, and be spared." Ren and Hydron stiffened, Ren glancing back at the Brawlers with a raised eyebrow. Hydron glanced at Ren, looking unsure of what he should do. Zenoheld narrowed his eyes at his son, starting to look very angry. "Hydron! Let's go."

"What's he doing?" Runo murmured. Hydron hesitated for a moment, glancing at Ren, who shook his head. Hydron gasped in surprise, then grinned, turning to face the older man who had raised him.

"No."

**Breezyfeather: OMG SPECTRA YOU HAVE RETURNED! ALL HAIL SPECTRA! (bows)**

**Dan: O.O**

**Shun: O.o**

**Runo: O.O THIS IS THE DUDE THAT KIDNAPPED ME!**

**Paige: -_-**

**Rafe: ….?**

**Spectra: Heh.**

**Me: EEEK! **

**Reviews?**


	17. Anxiety

**Breezyfeather: I think this is the third to last chapter. Wow...**

**Spectra: Wow is right. At least the plot wasn't as centered around the title as you originally hoped.**

**Breezyfeather: Aw, you're right... Oh well. I have more ideas!**

**Dan: I. Still. Hate. You.**

**Breezy: We've. Already. Established. THAT! (hits Dan over the head with Shun's grappling hook)**

**Runo: Dan, you just got owned.**

**Dan: … I hate you.**

**Breezy: We get it.**

**OMG I JUST WATCHED THE MOST RECENT EPISODE OF MECHTANIUM SURGE AND I FLIPPED OUT! I LOVE THAT SERIES! In the preview for the next episode it looks like Fabia is wearing Serena's circlet(crown that dips down on your forehead) and her sister's outfit... is she queen now? If so that's going to seriously damage the plot for Ultimatum... Hm... I think I'll wait on updating that fanfiction since the chapters are influenced by the current series...**

"No."

Everyone in the clearing froze. Runo's mouth dropped and Dan's eyes bulged. Shun raised his eyebrows while Julie and Marucho seemed frozen in shock. Alice's lips parted to show her surprise and Keith smirked. Zenoheld, on the other hand, seemed unable to process this, unable to process the fact that the one he had controlled by fear for most of his life was turning his back. He was silent for a moment, staring at his son with a look of disbelief on his face.

"What did you say, boy?" he demanded in a dangerously low tone. Hydron clenched his fists and it was obvious to all those watching that he was nervous, but he put that aside.

"I said no! All you've ever done is be a cruel, terrible father! How can you expect me to do anything for you?" Hydron called defiantly. He lifted an arm so that his forearm was parallel to his shoulders. He pulled his sleeve up to his elbow, glaring with courage at his father. "You left scars on me, from all your "discipline". You call yourself my father? You're nothing but a cruel prison warden who craves submission from everyone!" Everyone was silent for a moment, stunned, as they stared at the many red scars that marked Hydron's forearm.

"You dare turn your back on me, boy?" Zenoheld hissed, his voice low as it concealed his rage. "Do you forget that I am the one who raised you? Who proclaimed you as the heir to my throne?"

"Does it really matter right now?" Hydron challenged. "You're about to destroy a planet for the sake of revenge. Even _I_ know that's too far, and I'm the one that wanted to kill Runo because she broke a promise to me."

"That was a really sudden change," Runo whispered to Dan.

"Yeah, no kidding," Dan hissed back.

"I'm done with doing your bidding, old man," Hydron shouted. "I'm going to claim the throne now, and purge Vestal and New Vestroia from the evils that you introduced there!"

"You're making a huge mistake," Zenoheld hissed. "But that's fine. If you refuse to cooperate, then I'll just eliminate you with the rest of the insects on this planet. Unless, of course, the Brawlers and Resistance decide to surrender. I'll leave the planet alone, as long as the rebels come with me."

"You're crazy if you think that's gonna happen!" Dan shouted without thinking. Suddenly, the knife appeared in his hand, startling Shun, who had been holding it at the time. Dan didn't seem fazed but Runo blinked in surprise. Dan lifted the blade above his head, then lowered it to point at Zenoheld. "We won't surrender! We won't let you harm innocents, but we won't surrender!"

"Yeah!" Julie was the first to agree, as per usual.

"No way!" Runo showed her support by jumping up with her wings.

"We'll never give in!" Marucho shouted, the gems on his gloves glowing.

"We'll protect our home," Alice nodded.

"You bet," Shun said simply, turning his fearless gaze upon the Vestal king.

Hydron and Ren remained silent, glaring at the tall, plump man. Just then, Mira and the others came running up behind Keith and Shun, skidding to a halt when they saw the scene unfolding before them. Mira and Baron gasped while Ace instantly jumped in front of Mira, protectively shielding her from the prince and his crazy father. Mira didn't make a comment about it, instead tried to make sense of what was happening.

"Don't ask, just try to keep up," Keith said. Mira and the others nodded, pulling out their Bakugan.

"Fine Hydron. If you refuse to come then I'll just have to obliterate you along with the rest of these pathetic humans," Zenoheld said. "I can never tell you how happy I was when you were born. But now, I realize that all you were ever destined to be was a thorn in my side." Hydron's eyes widened, then narrowed in anger. "Your mother would be disappointed."

"Ha! I doubt it! Why else do you think she left you?" Hydron snarled back. "She gave you custody over me because you simply wouldn't go without it! And you know what? I wish she had taken me! You're the worst person that anyone could ever hope to have for a father!"

"You tell him!" Runo found herself yelling before she knew it. Hydron and the others froze, turning to stare at her. She stiffened, her face reddening, as she looked away in embarrassment. Hydron grinned in amusement, happy to have the girl on hus side, turning back to face his father.

"I won't let you kill the Brawlers and the Resistance, or even the Vexos," he announced, standing with his arms spread out to the sides of him and his feet planted firmly on the ground. "What you are doing is wrong, and I-"

"_We_," Dan corrected him, moving to stand beside the blond. Hydron stared at him for a moment, then returned the grin that Dan offered him.

"We will stop you," Hydron finished, lowering his arms but refusing to move.

Zenoheld glared at him, then turned. "You will regret this," was all he said, then his form vanished. Hydrons face clouded over in anger and his fists clenched at his sides, but his anger evaporated when Dan's hand came down on his shoulder. His eyes widened when Dan's fist collided with his face, sending the boy stumbling backward in surprise. When he regained his footing, he angrily faced Dan.

"What was that for?" he demanded.

"Trying to kill us," Dan said cheerfully. Hydron stared at him, obviously surprised and confused. Shun shook his head and Marucho laughed nervously. Runo rolled her eyes while Julie shrugged and Alice blinked. "But everything's good now."

"You're not... mad at me?" Hydron mumbled, looking away.

"Why would I be?" Dan asked, a goofy grin on his face. "You just stood up to your father. You're on our side now. Why would I be mad?"

"Well you did just punch him in the face, so I can understand where he got the idea from," Masquerade smirked, walking up to the two boys. Dan shrugged while Hydron looked at Masquerade, taking the masked blond in.

"You were the guy working for that Bakugan, Naga, right?" he asked, rubbing his cheek.

"That is correct," Masquerade confirmed, "but that is unimportant at the moment. Right now we must act quickly. How much time to you think we have?"

"Me?" Hydron asked.

"Yes, you," Keith said, joining the group. "You know what he's gonna do, right?"

"Oh yeah," Hydron said, straightening up. "The device takes a while to start up, and he started it up only a little while ago. We should have at least another two hours until it launches."

"Is that enough time to come up with an effective plan and put it in action?" Shun asked Dan. Dan bit his lip, thinking, as he stared up at the glowing ship in the atmosphere.

"It should be, I think," he murmured. "I mean, we don't have enough time to evacuate everyone from Earth, and I imagine he'd be trying to destroy the planet, right?"

"Actually, no," Ren chimed in. "He's gonna send out a signal beam that will destroy everyone, humans, G-, and—and Vestals, alike." Ren stumbled over the words a little, earning a few confused words from the humanoid life forms around him. He continued, though, as if nothing had happened. "He had a human captive on the ship, and he took DNA from him. He mapped the genetic sequence, much like scientists did with the Human Genome Project, and with the advanced technology that Vestal has the scientists were able to map out the genome and find out the genes that had to be eliminated to cause mass-"

"I'm sorry, but can you please explain it in easier terms?" Dan asked, looking dazed. A quick glance around revealed that half the people in the clearing didn't understand, and Ren sighed in annoyance.

"I think he's trying to say that Zenoheld found a way to dismantle the human body," Marucho simplified, "and he can do that by emitting a signal from that ship up there." He pointed upward when he said that and Ren nodded.

"Yeah, exactly," he confirmed. "So if you were to evacuate everyone, it might actually work."

"But we don't have that kind of time, or the necessary resources," Alice reminded them.

"Okay then," Dan said, "then we're just gonna have to work with what we have. We could try to infiltrate the place and destroy the thing, but I don't think we'll be able to get close enough or find the thing in time to even start."

"So what other options are there?" Mira asked, looking at Dan seriously. He made a face to illustrate how stressed he was about this and his fingers kept closing around nothing. Drago popped out on his shoulder, looking up at Dan.

"What do you think Drago?" Dan asked, biting his lip as he looked back at the small Bakugan.

"We should try infiltrating it. It's the only chance, right?" he said. Dan's wings blazed to life behind him as he nodded, his eyes not leaving the prize in the sky.

"We should split into two groups," he said, turning to face the rest of the people on the ground. The flames danced behind him, casting his face in shadow. "Shun and I will lead the infiltration. Runo and Keith will take care of the backup plan."

"Okay," Keith nodded.

"Sounds good," Runo agreed.

"Mylene, Shadow, Lync, Volt and... um... Gus, Marucho and Baron. You guys stay here and make sure that Zenoheld doesn't attack again," Dan said, pointing to each of them in turn. "Marucho, do you think that you can access the maps of the place with your computer skills if Alice is able to find an access point in the ship?"

"Yeah, I should be able to do it," Marucho affirmed, a series of screens appearing around him, along with floating, glowing keyboards. His eyes darted across the screens, and then he looked up. "Yeah, if Alice can use her crystal to send me the connecting data, then I should be able to find the maps and guide you."

"Awesome," Dan grinned. "Okay then. Alice, Julie, Masquerade, Mira, Ace, Hydron and Ren. You guys are coming with us. Shun, Mira, Ren, Hydron, can I talk to you guys about strategy?" The two of them nodded and walked over to Dan, whose wings vanished.

The others looked around at each other and split into small groups, talking quietly. Runo joined Keith, nodding at him in greeting. He smiled back, a gesture that she returned, then the two turned their gazes to the glowing ship in the sky, stiffly acknowledging the threat that was posed to all of them. Gus approached Keith and looked at him seriously. "We should get somewhere more open, in case we have to fight. We'll be confined here."

"You're right," Keith agreed. He turned to Mylene, who had crossed her arms and was supporting her weight on one leg. She had discarded her cape to show her disloyalty to the Vexos, as Shadow had discarded his armor. Lync had refused to give anything up, as had Volt, but Keith and Gus had removed their coats and Keith his mask when he wasn't fighting. "Mylene, do you think that we can reposition our battle station over the ocean? That will give both you and Marucho an advantage if we have to fight again."

"Yeah, I'm good with that," she said. "But you're Pyrus. We should stay in the relative area, like in the park. Marucho, Shadow and I can head back to the bay if you want, but I think it would be wise to stay together."

"My thoughts exactly," Volt said. "If we all fight on an earthy battle field, it will give all of us an advantage with the exception of Aquos."

"Alright then," Keith nodded. Runo nodded as well, and the group was silent for a few minutes.

After a little while, Dan and the others turned to them, and everyone gave him their undivided attention once more. His eyes shone with the seriousness of the situation, but also a determination that Runo found astounding.

"Okay guys, listen up," he called. "We're gonna invade the palace in the sky. I need Alice and Julie to go together so that Julie can take her through walls and Alice can see where the guards are using her visor. We're going to have them find the map data on the place and send it to Marucho, who will guide the rest of us inside. The invasion team will wait up there. The back up team will wait here and keep tabs on us. You guys will have to be prepared to jump in at a moments notice, because if one of us goes down we're gonna need backup and fast."

"Runo, Keith, I want the two of you to be able to devise a plan of attack if we need it," Mira said, "then relay it to us once you're sure of it. We're going to begin to head up to the palace now, and we'll remain just out of range of the sensors on the palace until Julie and Alice obtain the blueprints or maps, whichever is easier, and Marucho is able to direct us inside. And then we'll go from there."

"Is everyone clear on the plan?" Ren asked. Everyone nodded and Ren stiffly nodded back.

"Alright then. Let's do this!" Dan cried, raising his fist. A chorus of yells erupted at the gesture and then, two words filled the air.

"Bakugan, brawl!" Several Bakugan balls shot up into the air and toward the forest, and all the attack squad's Bakugan rose up around them. Julie was the only one who hadn't thrown down her Bakugan, seeing as it would just be more practical for her to skate up to the palace since Gorem couldn't fly. Runo looked at Drago nervously, then spotted Dan coming over to her.

She turned to face him, a hand on her chest in an involuntary effort to hide her nervousness. He smiled at her and took her free hand in his own. He wrapped his arms around her, making her gasp softly in surprise. She returned the gesture after a moment, wrapping his arms around his neck, and rested her head against his, unknowingly pinning him to her with a tight grip.

"Runo, relax, will you?" he asked, strangled. She jumped and loosened her grip.

"Sorry," she whispered.

"Heh, it's fine," he laughed quietly. The two pulled apart to stare into each others eyes, wondering if this would be the last battle. Her eyes were filled with fear, and it showed on her face as plain as mud on a white sweater. "Don't worry," he reassured her, pulling her close once more. "We'll take care of it. I promise."

"You'll come back?" she questioned, wanting to be sure that she'd see him again, alive and well. He nodded, and she loosened her grip on his neck. They stared at each others eyes, deep, blood red into beautiful sea green. A spell had been cast over the two of them, and the two leaned forward at the same moment. Their eyes closed, their faces tilted to the side, and their lips brushed against each other in a gentle motion that told each other of their feelings.

Everyone around them turned away, recognizing that Runo needed the comfort, and not any jibes at their public show of affection. They remained like that for a minute, then pulled away, almost reluctantly. Runo turned away from Dan, a blush raising to her cheeks startlingly fast. Dan smiled, his eyes finding Drago's.

"Alright then. Time to go, everyone," he shouted. "Let's take em down!"

"Yeah!" Dan dashed over to Drago, his wings lifting him to the Bakugan's head. He grabbed onto the golden horn and pointed toward the glowing star in the sky.

"Let's go!" And just like that, all of the Bakugan with that particular destination in mind lifted off the ground, shooting up. Runo grimaced at the wind stirred up by the group, her hands clasping over her heart.

She watched them until they were out of sight, and then worry overcame her. Now she thought she knew what it was like to watch a loved one depart for war. Not knowing if they would ever come back, not knowing if you'd ever see them alive again, and especially not knowing if one day you'd receive the news that the one you loved was dead. Runo could feel the anxiety raising in her chest and wondered how army families were able to live with the fact that their loved one could die at any time.

Runo's wings glowed to life behind her as she stared up at the sky, then she gently jumped up, her wings carrying her above the forest. The others watched her curiously as she floated up, golden sparkles trailing behind her like falling stars, fading out after a few seconds of marking the route she had taken. She floated up there, just out of earshot, as she stared up at the stars and the one glowing entity that threatened her very existence. At the one glowing sphere that her boyfriend was risking his very life to destroy for her safety.

She clasped her hands over her heart as she dipped her head and closed her eyes. "Please, please, don't let them fail," she whispered. "Don't take him from me... please..."

**Breezyfeather: And the final battle awaits!**

**Shun: You enjoy cliffhangers, don't you?**

**Breezyfeather: I do and you know it.**

**Runo: What the heck is wrong with you?**

**Breezyfeather: You mean the fact that I can't spell "Breezfeyather?"**

**Runo: … no but that is pathetic.**

**Breezyfeather: Shut up!**

**Come on you guys, I know you're reading this! **

**Review, I'd like to know if I did a decent job.**

**Please?**


	18. Hack

**Breezy: Most likely the second or third to last chapter. Unless I say otherwise at the end of this chapter. It depends on how much happens in this one... and if things get desperate enough for my plan...**

**Runo: You're still not done with us yet?**

**Breezy: Nope and this is page 104.**

**Runo: Holy crud.**

**Breezyfeather: Yep.**

Julie and Alice shot through the sky at or almost at one hundred miles per hour, Alice holding onto Julie. Alice was keeping a hand on the younger girl's shoulder to keep from losing her, but even if she did lose her, she would have easily found her again due to her glowing crystal road. However, they were getting close to the palace. They didn't want to risk hitting it, and Julie would just phase through with the aid of her skates and Sub-Terra attribute.

"Hey, Julie, stop," Alice shouted over the wind, noticing the dark mass to their left. Julie skidded to a halt, earning a yelp out of Alice as she was flung over Julie's shoulder. She plummeted upside-down, but managed to flip herself over and use her wings to catch herself.

"Sorry!" Julie called.

"Don't worry about it," Alice shook her head, joining her then. She pulled down her visor, twisting the knob on the side to show her thermal images. Several items popped up on the screen, including multiple red humanoid figures. Alice glanced at all of them, determining that this was not a good entry point.

"What do you see?" Julie asked curiously.

"Well, there are a bunch of people in this area," Alice noted, pointing toward the wall that masked them. "So I think we should get away from here. But... it looks like they're all sitting..."

"At computers?" Julie asked, excited at the lead. Alice nodded, but started to move to the right, circling the huge palace. Julie followed easily, and before long, Alice had found an area that was unoccupied.

"Really?" Julie asked.

"Yeah... but I can't tell if it's a hallway or a room," Alice muttered, twisting the knob again so that it showed X-ray images. "I can't even tell if it's a wall... the glasses don't help much..." She twisted it once more, skipping over the night vision setting and a setting that looked like she was just gazing through glass, blinking when it went back to the thermal imager. It showed several blue rectangular and spherical objects, plus several that she guessed were chairs, now. It confused her slightly that the room would have changed since she last looked at it, but decided to pass it off as an error with the imager.

"Julie, it's a room," she announced. Julie grinned.

"Alright! Come here, Alice," Julie said. Alice floated over to her and Julie grabbed her wrist. "I'm going through the wall now, so hang on!" Julie pulled her over to the wall and closed her eyes, concentrating. The gems on her skates glowed, as Marucho had molded her attribute gem into the jeweled wings on the sides of them. A light brown glow started up around the two girls, making Alice shiver. Then, Julie pulled her forward, causing Alice to yelp in surprise, but instead of colliding painfully with the metal shell of the palace/ship, they passed harmlessly through it.

Alice opened her eyes when the grip on her wrist slackened, finding Julie glancing around, confused. Alice followed her gaze, taking in the multiple, vacant chairs poised in front of several devices that looked similar to computers. The door was closed tight, and there were no windows. A table sat in the corner with nine chairs surrounding it, all of them vacant. There wasn't a single person in the room, and yet, Alice felt like she was being watched.

The two girls were silent for a moment, glancing around to assure themselves that there was no threatening presence among them. Then Julie turned toward the computers. "Looks like we're on," she said, pointing toward one of them. Alice nodded, her wings dissolving into the air as she easily headed toward the computers. Julie skated after her, stopping just short of one that was glowing slightly.

Alice sat down at the chair in front of it and hit a button on the keyboard, causing the screen to come to life. It showed a program window with several pictograms that Julie and Alice could not decipher, and a few other windows for different programs around the edges of the screen. Alice glanced at the keyboard and looked for the mouse, finding it easily and clicking on various items until she came up with one that was password protected.

"I think these are the schematics, but they're protected," Alice muttered, lifting her visor.

"Is there any way... to override... the password?" Hydranoid asked. Alice shook her head, taping commands into the keyboard rapidly. She straightened up and looked to her side, where Julie had been before. She wasn't there.

"Julie?" she asked, turning in the seat. For a moment, pure horror coursed through her. What if Julie had been captured and she hadn't noticed? It seemed highly illogical and unlikely, but Alice didn't know the extent of Vestal technology. Anything was possible as far as she was concerned. However, she found the girl standing in front of a bookshelf, a book open in her hands. Alice sighed in relief.

"Julie!"

"Huh?" Julie jumped, turning and catching sight of Alice's stern gaze. She laughed nervously and Alice crossed her arms.

"Julie, don't scare me like that!" she said.

"Sorry! I'm not good with techy stuff, so I didn't think I'd be of much help," Julie protested. "Besides, I saw a book with a Japanese title(**remember they live in Japan**)."

"Really?" Alice asked, turning back to the computer. She stared at the password box, hoping that this was, indeed the schematics. "I need a password..." she murmured.

Julie flipped the book open, finding several pages bookmarked with folded corners. The book was in relatively good condition, but looked rather old. She gently flipped through the pages, glancing for a few seconds longer on the bookmarked ones. Every once in a while she'd find something interesting on the page and would take the time to read it, but usually it involved quite a bit of advanced vocabulary that she assumed only Alice and Marucho would be able to understand, with words like "heterogeneous" and "rudimentary". After a few minutes, she turned to a page that had a picture on it.

Her eyes widened and she uttered a quiet, "Whoa...". Alice looked up, glancing back at the amazed girl for a brief moment. She took one look at the enthralled expression on Julie's face and found herself mildly curious at what had Julie so fascinated. Julie was so engrossed in the book that she didn't look up until Alice had said her name three times.

"Julie!" Julie jumped in surprise, glancing at Alice.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly.

"What are you looking at?" Alice questioned, getting up and walking over to her.

"Look at this," Julie said, the awe obvious in her voice as she held up the book, opened to the page she had been looking at. Alice took it from her and blinked in surprise, her jaw dropping slightly.

"What is it, Alice?" Hydranoid asked.

"This is a list of all the Chosen of the Ancients," Alice whispered, running her finger down the list of names. "And... wow... these records date back hundreds of years!"

"How is that possible?" Gorem asked. "We only appeared in your world a few years ago due to the dimensional disturbance created by Dr. Micheal."

"But why was... the dimensional barrier... so weak in the first place?" Hydranoid asked.

"Maybe it had something to do with the kids alive then?" Julie suggested, although doubting even her own contribution. Alice shrugged, not really paying much attention to the others in the room. She kept reading off the names of the Chosen, finding her own just below Masquerade's.

"Julie I found us!" she whispered, excited. Julie peered over her shoulder, following Alice's finger with ease as it slowly descended the page.

_Masquerade_

_Alice Gehabic_

_Julie Makimoto_

_Choji Marakura_

_Runo Misaki_

_Shun Kazami_

_Dan Kuso_

Julie blinked when she saw the last few names on the list, especially with the note next to it in black ink.

_Mira Clay_

_Keith Clay_

_Mylene Farrow_

_Volt Luster_

_Baron Letloy_

_Shadow Prove_

_Ace Grit_

_Gus Grav_

_Lync Volcan_

_Prince Hydron_

_**Note**: These individuals should not posses the ability to wield the Ancient Athame. Only a select group of humans posses that Right, and their names are listed above. They are known as the Bakugan Battle Brawlers. However, there have been hints that there is a compatibility amongst all of the individuals listed above, so that if one or more of those with the Right are absent in their time of need, two others are needed to compensate for each member absent. by_

The rest of the writing on the page was too hard to make out, making Alice and Julie bit their lips in similar expressions of irritation. Gorem and Hydranoid exchanged glances, then looked up at their brawlers. Alice sighed, closing her eyes.

"Well at least now we know a little bit more about the Athame," Julie said after a few moments.

"Yeah," Alice nodded, trying to look on the bright side. "Yeah. I think we should take this with us. It might prove useful."

"That's a good idea, Alice," Gorem said.

"Thanks," Alice called, walking back to the computer and closing the book, making sure to fold the corner of the page down before she did so. "So... I need a password," she murmured, staring at the cursor as it flashed on the screen. She positioned her fingers above the keys and sighed when she realized that she couldn't read the letters. How would she be able to type in a password if she didn't even know the language?

Alice rubbed her forehead, wishing that she had taken Mira or one of the others with her. She wished that one of them was able to read the Vestal writing, and then tell her how to type on this computer. The keys did not correspond with the human keyboard, not surprising her very much but proving to irritate her greatly, and they did not even have symbols on them to suggest their meaning. Alice could not make any assumptions on the meaning of any of the characters on the screen, other than the ones above the box that required her to input the password. She assumed those characters were telling her to input the password. But that understanding did her little good, and despair settled over her like a blanket. If she couldn't get the schematics and send them to Marucho, they had a very slim chance of finding the

Alice pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes, jumping slightly when her fingers brushed the visor on the crown of her head, knocking it down in front of her eyes. She tried to push it back up, but when doing so, her knuckles caught the dial on the side of the visor, twisting it slightly. It returned to the almost-normal setting, and Alice started to get annoyed. She started to lift it up while staring at the computer screen again, but froze, her fingers pressed hard against the glass of the visor.

Small words now floated underneath the Vestal characters, the perfect size for Alice to read with the visor so close to her face. The words were in Japanese, and suddenly, she felt a spark of hope ignite within her chest. Maybe they had a chance after all.

"Julie," she hissed. "Julie, I can read it!"

"Huh?" Julie asked from the bookshelf.

"I can read the Vestal words! My visor translated it! But this isn't the right file... hm..." The file that she had with the password appeared to be the programing and operation data of a device under the name of "Humane Extirpate Program". Keeping the window open, she clicked around with the mouse, finding the file that said, "Blueprint data of Ves Palace".

"Got it!" she cried, pulling her Crystal over her head.

"Really?" Julie gasped, shooting over to her side in an instant. Alice nodded vigorously, feeling elated. She held the crystal next to the computer as the maps popped up on the screen, revealing the location of everything within the Palace. She caught a brief glimpse of a large area labeled "Humane Extirpate Program Lunch Site" and blinked, remembering the other window she had open. Pushing the thought out of her head, she concentrated on sending the data to her gem. The gem flashed a few times, then a mechanical voice droned, "Collecting data... Download complete. Send data to: Marucho Marakura. Confirm sending instructions."

"Clear to go," Alice said to the device.

"Sending... Sent."

Julie grinned. "Alright! Now we can go!"

"No, wait," Alice murmured, and Julie blinked.

"Huh? But shouldn't we-"

"I want to find out what's in this file," Alice said, bringing the Humane Extirpate Program window back to the center of attention. "On the maps there was a large area marked off for this. It's gotta be important."

"But Alice... if we don't get out soon someone's gonna find us," Julie murmured. "Especially if they can detect whenever this password-protected file is broken into."

"It's a risk I'm gonna take," Alice told her, her fingers poised over the keys. She gently tapped a few, watching as a word in Japanese was spelled out underneath the Vestal characters. She had typed in "Athame" to see if she would be granted access.

**Access Denied. Input correct password within the next three minutes or the alarm will sound, or close the document now.**

Alice bit her lip, watching as a small timer in the corner of the screen flashed with the decreasing numbers. She hit the equivalent of the "Return" key on the Vestal keyboard and she was returned to the password input window.

"Alice..." Julie murmured nervously. "Um... I'm gonna go tell Dan what we're up to, I'll come right back."

"Okay Julie," Alice said, absentmindedly. "Hydranoid and I will keep trying to crack it."

"Be careful," Julie whispered, skating over to the wall and disappearing through it.

Alice clenched her teeth, trying another word. "Chosen" she typed, but again, she came up with the access denied message.

Next she imputed her friends names.

"Dan Kuso"

**Access Denied.**

"Choji Marakura"

**Access Denied.**

"Shun Kazami"

**Access Denied.**

"Julie Makimoto"

**Access Denied.**

"Alice Gehabic"

**Access Denied.**

"Runo Misaki"

**Access Denied.**

Alice bit her lip, glancing at the clock. One minute left.

Next she tried imputing the Vestals, only getting through half of them due to searching for the correct keys before the alarm clanged. Alice gasped, shooting to her feet.

"Alice... we've got to... leave now," Hydranoid urgently stated.

"But where's Julie?" Alice reminded him. "I gave Dan my transporter card!"

"What?" Hydranoid demanded. Alice found her hands shaking and gulped, turning back to the computer.

"If I've gotta wait for guards to come, or for Julie to come, then I've gotta crack this while I'm waiting," Alice decided, kicking the chair out of the way while she leaned over the keyboard. The light from the computer reflected off of her visor, and due to the darkness of the room, it looked as though the visor was glowing white, giving an eerie effect. Alice quickly opened the book again to the correct page and began typing.

"Baron Letloy"

**Access Denied**

"Shadow Prove"

**Access Denied**

Was it Alice's imagination, or could she hear footsteps thundering past the room?

"Ace Grit"

**Access Denied**

"Gus Grav"

**Access Denied**

"Lync Volan"

**Access Denied**

Why was she trying names anyway?

Suddenly, the door burst open, earning a surprised yelp out of Alice. She whirled around, her heart racing, as her fingers closed around her crystal. The air around her hand shimmered for a moment, then stopped, and no one noticed.

Alice stiffened at the people who shuffled into the room just then. There were several purple-clad, masked guards for one thing, something that definitely made her nervous, but in addition to that group, Professor Clay stood at the head of it, along with King Zenoheld himself. Professor Clay looked irritated, whereas Zenoheld smirked at Alice, who lifted a hand to her chest nervously but glared at them defiantly, standing her ground.

"Well well, what do we have here?" Zenoheld asked. "A human rat?" Alice was silent.

"It appears as though she was trying to access the program data on the Humane Extirpate Program," Professor Clay reported. Alice swallowed hard, glancing at the computer screen to her right. The cursor was still blinking, and Alice knew she still had a chance to recover the file. Her right hand lowered onto the keyboard and she glanced, without moving her head, at the metal keys, trying to be as obscure as possible. She glanced back at the open book, seeing that Hydron's name was the last name on the list.

"Is that so?" Zenoheld asked, narrowing his eyes at the red haired girl in the corner of the room. She bit her lip, her fingers tapping the correct keys gently. "Well I must say, the Brawlers certainly are a persistent group of rats," he growled, "but no matter." Alice stiffened, her fingers pausing over the key that was equivalent to "H". "It looks as though this little spy will be the first to experience our little creation." Alice gulped, her eyes flicking back to Zenoheld. He was smirking like a sadist, and Alice could feel her fear threaten to overtake her. However, she remembered that she had to get the file and send it to Marucho, because that would ultimately lead to the fall of the Vestal invaders, even if it did cost her the ultimate price.

Her fingers moved once more, taping down on the "H" key, then the "Y", and the "D" and so on, until "Hydron" was spelled out. Then, as Professor Clay gave the order to detain her, she slammed her fist down on the "Return" key for all she was worth, praying that this was the correct password. Everyone froze, and for a moment, no one moved. Alice held her breath, feeling dizzy as the window popped up. Her spirits plummeted, and she realized that this would be her doom. This was it.

But when the words in the window registered in her mind, her mouth broke into a wide smile, and her mind shouted, "_YES!_"

**Access Granted**

"Stop her!" Professor Clay ordered, suddenly appearing desperate. "If she is able to send that file-"

Alice turned to the now advancing guards and lifted a hand, the crystal in her hand flashing. The air around her hand shimmered once more, and she clutched it like the handle of a whip. A long, black tendril spiraled out of the crystal, glowing purple. She lifted it above her head and snapped it in the direction of the oncoming guards, causing them to hesitate for a brief moment. Small rings shot off of the whip, thinner than the whip itself and possibly strands of the energy, and they floated over to the guards. They snapped around their arms, pinning them to their sides. The same happened with Professor Clay and King Zenoheld, and while they were struggling to dislodge the bonds, Alice turned back to the computer.

The whip was sucked back into the crystal in a matter of seconds, and Alice held it up next to the computer.

"Download data on the Humane Extirpate Program," Alice ordered.

"Collecting Data. Downloading," the device droned.

Alice's teeth worked at her inner cheek as she glanced back at the guards, all of which were still stuck. But then, one of their bonds snapped, and he began running at Alice. She gasped in surprise, but then narrowed her gaze, a small ball of Darkus energy about the size of a Bakugan forming in her fingers. She quickly flung it at the soldier, shouting "Bakugan, brawl!"

The ball collided with the chest of the soldier, bouncing off harmlessly. However, before it could hit the ground, it floated up behind the guard, dark tendrils shooting out of it. Alice watched as the tendrils wrapped themselves around the guard's wrists and ankles, causing him to stumble and begin struggling.

"Download complete. Sending data to: Marucho Marakura. Confirm sending instructions," the device said.

"Clear to go," Alice told it, turning back to the computer.

"Sending... Sent," the device said. Alice nodded, glancing back a the still struggling guards when she heard a footfall. Two others had gotten free, and Alice gasped at their advance. She jumped up, her wings appearing and lifting her. She allowed the whip to grow again and slashed at them, grimacing when she heard the harsh snap of it colliding with her enemies. She didn't like violence, but she accepted that it was the only way she'd be able to buy Julie enough time to return to get her.

The two guards stumbled back and Alice landed on the ground in front of them, her fists clenched. She opened one, where two dark balls appeared between her index and middle finger and her ring finger and pinky. She forcefully snapped her arm to the side, releasing the balls. They shot over to the guards and entangled their arms and legs, just like the first one.

Alice was trying to do this as peacefully as possible, and she hoped that just holding them off would do the trick. However, Professor Clay had gotten out of his bonds and seemed to realize her strategy, as he was now rubbing his chin in thought. Alice swung her gem over her neck, eying him warily.

Alice rushed back to the computer, trying to get a sense of what the Humane Extirpate Program was. Before she began to read, though, her communicator beeped. She grabbed it out of her pocket, pressing the button nervously. Julie's face popped up, her hair flying around her face and a gray ceiling rushing past above her.

"Julie!" Alice cried. "Where are you?"

"No time! Lift up you arms!" Julie cried.

"What?" Alice asked, confused.

"Lift up your arms!"

Alice gasped, a figure on roller skates suddenly shooting out of the wall opposite her. Alice jumped up with her wings, thrusting the communicator back into her pocket and lifting up one arm. She snatched the book off the desk, making Professor Clay's eyes widen. Julie's fingers closed around the limb, pulling her along with her. The next thing Alice knew, she had fazed through the wall, and no longer had to worry about being captured or killed by Zenoheld. She had gotten the plans. That was all that mattered.

**Breezyfeather: FINALLY DONE!**

**Runo and everyone else: DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO LOUD?**

**Breezy: Yes, I do, thank you!**

**Come on! The more reviews I get, the faster I update! So if I get more than 2, the chances of me updating by Monday or even Sunday increase. I won't start the chapter until I get a review. A big thanks to ella baybee and Sharpay Evans 11 for reviewing on my last chapter, and to Forever Forgotten22 for chatting with me almost every day. **

**Please click the button below!**


	19. Safe?

**Alright, thank you all for reviewing! I really appreciate them! In response to animefreak101's question, I think that you can expect maybe 3 more chapters. I have a general idea of what I want to do. I let my fingers take me on the journey along the rocky path I've sketched, and sometimes things go faster or slower than I originally expect. Like for example, I expected to finish this in this chapter. But that obviously didn't happen. But its very likely that there will be three to four more chapters.**

Ace held tightly onto Alice, his fingernails digging harshly into her shoulders. She grimaced, but didn't lose sight of the end of the hallway. She threw her legs out to the side instinctively when she turned the corner, the action giving the illusion that she was skidding to a halt. She pushed off the air again as she shot down the next corner, the correct route flashing on her visor.

"Alice! You're getting too far ahead of the others," Ace shouted in her ear, making Alice jolt in surprise.

"Please, don't scare me like that!" Alice gasped, pushing her feet in front of her body so that she slowed down to a stop. Ace let go of her shoulders, dropping a few feet to the ground. He landed in a crouching position, easily getting to his feet once more. He and Alice turned to face the way they had come, Alice slowly descending. Her feet lightly touched down on the ground, and her wings dissolved into the air.

"Where did we lose them?" Ace asked, glancing back at the other Darkus battler.

"I'm not sure," she told him. They were silent for a few moments, and then Julie skidded around the corner, Mira hugging onto her. Dan was next, holding Ren underneath him as he flew forward. Then came Masquerade, who was carrying Hydron on his back the same way Alice had been carrying Ace. He didn't have wings, though. Instead, spirals of purple wound their way around his ankles and feet, and jets of darkness pushed him forward from underneath his shoes. Shun was hopping on columns of air above of all of them, a black blur as he leaped from one point to another.

Alice shot over to Ace and grabbed him under the arms. "What are you doing?" Ace gasped as her wings reappeared, and she shot up into the air. She flew in between Masquerade and Dan, Julie skating a slight bit ahead of them. The speed they were going kept Ace's feet from touching the ground, and even kept his body straight.

"How'd you go so fast?" Julie asked her. Alice shook her head.

"I don't know," she said. "I think I zoned out."

"Well we can't have that if we're gonna save everyone here," Mira pointed out, her tone stern but her smile kind. Alice looked at her for a moment, then Ace spoke and Alice looked down at his mint-green hair as it flew in the wind.

"She's right. We've gotta be alert in case we're attacked," he said. Alice nodded, letting out a small grunt to show she understood.

"Left here!" she shouted to Dan, and everyone obliged.

"Alice, are you viewing your map in long-range mode?" Marucho's voice filtered through the earpiece in her ear, making her eyes dart to the settings on the side of the visor. The word "Close" was lit up, and the setting "Long-Range" was dark.

"No Marucho," Alice told him, making the others glance at her.

"Well I think you should be aware that in between your position and the Humane Extirpate Program Launch Site, there are four stations of Vestal guards. The map changed a few seconds ago showing that. I think that Professor Clay and Zenoheld figured out our plan," Marucho reported.

"Oh no..." Alice murmured, shooting ahead of everyone else to lead them around a corner.

"Alice, what's wrong?" Masquerade asked her. She didn't answer him, instead focusing on Marucho's next words.

"You need to be careful. There are twenty five guards in each station, and all of them are armed with long range weapons, as well as vaporizers, and Shock Batons," Marucho told her, a few mechanical sounds being transmitted through the earpiece that Alice assumed were his fingers on the glowing screens from his gem. "The Shock Baton is the real name for what we've called an Electro-Rod."

"They're that serious about killing us?" Alice questioned.

"Seems like it," Marucho said gravely. "They're coming up around the next two corners, stop and let the others know."

"Gotcha," she said.

"Hey Alice!" Dan called as they turned a corner. "How much further?" Alice brought her feet forward, startling Ace, as they slowed to a stop. She let go of Ace and he landed easily on his feet, which Dan did with Ren. Mira slid off of Julie's back, as did Hydron from Masquerade. They all looked at Alice, who floated down to the ground and made her wings vanish. She lifted her visor and stared seriously up at Dan, who narrowed his eyes back at her.

"They found out our plan," she told them. Julie's eyes widened while Ren sighed. Dan looked annoyed and Hydron didn't seem surprised. Mira and Ace exchanged glances while Alice turned her gaze to Masquerade, who crossed his arms. They were silent for a moment, then Alice continued. "They set up guards in four stations from here to the Launch Site. There are twenty five guards stationed at each spot, but their weapons are what we have to be worried about," she said, noticing Dan's hopeful expression. It fell a second later and he crossed his arms, thinking. "They've got the regular Shock Batons but they've also got long range weapons and vaporizers." That got a few surprised gasps, not so much from Hydron, Ren, Mira and Ace though, but they did look slightly taken aback.

"This is bad. If we aren't careful, they'll take us out really easily," Ren said.

"I hear you," Dan nodded. "We'll all just have to watch ourselves, unless Alice can transport us. I think they've seen us by now. They must have installed cameras in the place, right Hydron?"

"Yeah," Hydron said, looking around. "Especially so close to the Humane Extirpate Program..."

"Alice, Masquerade, is it possible for you two to transport us to the program? It might give us an opportunity to catch them off guard," Shun suggested.

"I think we can do that. We might want to get somewhere that they can't see us, though. Hydron, do you know somewhere where-" Masquerade started, but he was cut off by said prince.

"Just around the corner there is a blind spot in between two cameras," Hydron said briefly. "However, from what you described, there should be a platoon...?"

"Around the next corner," Alice nodded. She and the others exchanged glances and sighed. Masquerade's feet touched the ground, the tendrils of darkness that pressed against his ankles snapping off forcefully and dissolving in the air. Everyone turned to face him as he started toward the corner.

"Where are you going?" Shun asked, his voice soft but commanding.

"The only way we'll be able to transport there is if we get in that blind spot," he stopped, speaking quietly. "And the only way we'll be able to get there is if we take out those twenty five guards on the other side of this corner. Am I wrong?"

"He's crazy," Dan whispered.

"Masquerade there is no way-" Ren protested, by Masquerade held a hand out in front of him. Pressed in between his forefinger and middle finger was a small Darkus Bakugan, and he turned so that they could see his nose protruding from between the two forked pieces of glass that was his mask. The light caught the one facing the brawlers in such a way that it appeared to be glowing, and Alice sighed, knowing what he was planning.

"Masquerade, we can't throw down our Bakugan here. Their sizes will destroy the area, and that would just defeat the purpose," she said softly. He didn't move. "Masquerade," she hissed. "We've got to either take them out by hand or find some sort of alternate route."

"There isn't an alternate route though, is there?" Shun said. Everyone turned to look at him. He was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed and his eyes closed. He opened them now to meet their many gazes, and then looked to Masquerade. "It seems to me that the only chance we have is to take these guys on."

"But is that wise?" Drago asked.

"Yes, we must have a strategy before rushing into a fight like this," Percival agreed.

"From the weapons you described, Alice, it looks as though we're going to have to be very careful about this," Mira said.

"Yeah guys, and what if one of us is hit?" Julie fretted.

"Look, let's not think about that now," Ren muttered.

"Ren is right," Ace agreed. "Lets just focus on—hey! What are you doing?" Masquerade, Shun, and Dan had all jumped forward, shooting toward the corner.

"Guys!" Mira shouted, sprinting after them.

"Looks like we're fighting," Ren sighed, following. Julie, Ace, and Alice all exchanged glances, then Alice grabbed Ace under the arms again. She jumped into the air while he pulled out an Shock Baton and powered it up. Julie shot after them on her skates, shooting her road up and ahead of them so that when she turned the corner, she was skating on a nearly vertical surface. The road evened out then and a pair of chakrams appeared in her hands. She flung them toward the line of soldiers, sending them stumbling back.

Alice swooped over the line of purple-clad soldiers, pushing her feet in front of her body as she swung Ace in that direction, too. She let go of Ace, sending him flying through the air. He did a flip, the arm that held the Shock Baton out to the side. When he was right side up again, he bent his knees, swinging his arm forward. It brushing lightly against the shoulder of a guard, sending a fierce electrical shock into his body.

Ace whirled around, swinging the rod in a circle around his body. Another guard had been foolish enough to try to attack him while his back was turned, and now he fell beside his comrade. Ace glanced from side to side, watching as Alice and Julie double-teamed two guards. But then a beam shot right next to them, one that he recognized as a vaporizer. He gasped while the two of them let out yelps of surprise, arching their backs to avoid the blast.

Ace grunted as an elbow wedged its way into his back, causing him to stumble. He landed on his knees, glancing behind him in time to see Hydron deflect the attack from the guard that had attacked him. Hydron had his forearm pressed against the guard's upper arm, preventing him from hitting Ace with the Shock Baton.

"Prince Hydron!" the guard gasped. Hydron's lip curled in concentration as he tried to keep the guard from attacking Ace. Ace got to his feet and jumped behind the guard, slamming his Shock Baton onto the guards shoulder. The guard dropped to his knees and fell, face down, onto the ground, and Hydron jumped back to avoid the still powered up weapon in his hand. It clattered to the floor, bouncing on its top and bottom until the rings disappeared and it retracted into the hilt.

Ace watched as Hydron leaned over, picking up the weapon and powering it up, and then turned to face him.

"Thanks," Ace nodded. Hydron smirked at him, then disappeared into the fray once more. Ace turned and found himself face to face with Mira, who looked at him seriously. She held a whip in her hand like Mylene's, and didn't look shy about using it. Ace gasped, forcing her behind him as he blocked a blow from a guard. She watched with wide eyes as Dan swooped down from above, flinging a large ball of fire at the guard. The guard yelled as is slammed into his helmet, forcing him to the ground. It didn't catch, thankfully, and he stayed down after Ace shocked him.

"Thank you Ace, Dan," Mira called.

"No worries," Dan shouted.

"I'll always be there for you, Mira," Ace grinned. His eyes widened then as she turned away, and his face reddened. He put his head in his hands, groaning. "Now I sound like some lovey dovey creep," he grumbled.

"Well, I can't argue with you there, but it seems that she didn't think the comment was odd," Percival pointed out from Ace's shoulder.

"H-hey!" Ace protested, sweatdropping. His rant was interrupted by a surprise yell from Ren, and lightning shot through the air.

"Get down!" Dan shouted. Ace yelped, dropping to the ground, along with all of his comrades. Guards fell all around them, and before they knew it, all of their enemies were incapacitated.

As Ace slowly got to his feet, he glanced around, an action that everyone else around him was mimicking. His eyes found Ren, who was standing in a very startled position. His left hand was clasped tightly around his right wrist, and he was breathing hard as he held it in front of him. Dan and the others stared at him, and he slowly lowered his hand, relaxing his shoulders as he stared at his feet. Linehalt hovered over his shoulder, looking up at Ren's face.

"I didn't expect you to gain that ability yet," Linehalt whispered, but Ace could hear because he was the closest to the golden eyed Darkus brawler.

"I wasn't supposed to get it yet," Ren responded softly. He looked at Hydron, who was blinking in surprise, and at Dan, who was rubbing his nose and looking puzzled. Julie, Mira and Alice seemed amazed, while Ace, Shun and Masquerade eyed him suspiciously.

"You see this device on my wrist?" Ren asked, pointing at a red bracelet like ring on his arm. The humans and Vestals nodded. "It can shoot lightning by responding to my brain waves."

"Whoa, that's cool," Dan breathed, floating over to him and examining the bracelet for himself. "Can I try?"

"Dan you're dangerous enough with the powers you've got now," Ace muttered.

"Hey!" Dan pouted. The Pyrus brawler glared at Ace for a moment, who was skeptical about Ren's story, then clapped his hands together. "Okay! Hydron, where is this blind spot in between cameras?"

"Right over there," Hydron pointed to an area in the middle of the hallway. "Unless they installed a camera while I was gone, which I highly doubt, we should be safe transporting from there."

"Alright!" Dan grinned. He then looked at all of them seriously, making Ace raise his eyebrow. What did the slightly idiotic leader of the Brawlers want this time? "Okay guys. This is gonna be really important. We've gotta make sure no one disturbs Alice while she disables the Humane Extirpate Program. So, since we're bound to get attacked, I'm gonna need Shun, Julie, and Masquerade to help me with an element barrier. Hydron, Mira, Ace and Ren, I need you guys to be prepared in case the barrier is taken down. Just be ready to fight."

Ace and the others nodded, and then Hydron stepped toward the blind spot. The others followed, and then Alice held out her hand. Masquerade placed her transporter card in her palm. She flashed him a smile and walked into the center of the group. Masquerade followed her, and she turned to face him.

"Okay guys, get closer so that we can transport you," Alice said. Everyone drew in close to herself and Masquerade, Julie and Mira putting their hands on Alice's shoulders. Alice and Masquerade's cards both began to glow at the same moment, and both of them had the same destination in mind. The next thing they knew, they were all surrounded by a glowing white light, forcing them to close their eyes.

When Alice opened her eyes, she found herself staring around in a large room. She lowered the card, looking up at the ceiling with an open mouth. The others all stared around as well, and Alice realized that it looked a lot like an airplane hangar. The walls were bare except for posters with red symbols in the Vestal language, and of panels that hid important circuitry. Alice flipped the setting on the visor to the one that revealed to her the Vestal language and realized that each poster yielded the same safety precautions, like a warning not to detach a certain wire or burn our the power source by charging up the device more than five times. It wasn't until Drago pointed out the giant machine in the center of the room that Alice was reminded of the dire task at hand, and she found herself searching for a computer.

"Alice, over there!" Mira pointed to the wall in front of them, where a computer rested. She jumped up, her wings carrying her in that direction while Dan began calling out orders.

"Alright! Julie, can you lift a wall of earth? Then Masquerade, how 'bout you put up a barrier of darkness? Shun can you mix in a little wind with that to keep them even more disoriented? Then I'll put up a fire shield..." Alice was out of earshot of them before she heard Dan finish his sentence. That made her realize just how large this room was, but she arrived at the computer before she could continue to ponder that thought.

She leaned over the keys, Hydranoid popping out of his ball at the edge of the keyboard. Alice pressed a button marked "start up", and watched as the computer lit up.

**Input password**

Alice's fingers flew over the keyboard, tapping the first combination of words that came to her mind.

"Chosen of the Ancients"

**Access Denied**

Alice bit her lip, knowing that she would probably only get a few tries at this before the computer shut down and locked her out.

"Prince Hydron"

She knew that trying the same password that was used on that other file was probably not going to work, but it was worth a try. To her surprise, it granted her access. Blinking, she tapped the keyboard again, searching for the data on the Humane Extirpate Program. It took her a few minutes, and it didn't help when Julie raised her earth wall and startled Alice so badly that she knocked Hydranoid off the keyboard while she whirled around to see what the commotion was about.

She was once again faced with the "Input Password" window.

"Prince Hydron" she tapped.

**Access granted**

She narrowed her eyes at the screen. This was weird. It was too easy for her to gain access.

"What's wrong Alice?" Hydranoid asked. His second voice picked up from there. "Does something not add up?" She was suspicious now and nodded.

"Yeah. This was too easy," she told him, turning her attention back to the screen. She typed in commands, finding herself at the section about disabling the device. She quickly scanned the instructions, then pulled up the window it told her to.

Shun and Masquerade concentrated, the gems around their necks glowing. Shun closed his eyes while Masquerade's were impossible to see. After a few minutes, the spectators witnessed a tornado of darkness spiraling out of Masquerade's fingers, mixing with the torrent of wind that swirled from Shun's. The dark and wind kept coming for a good ten minutes longer, until it filled a fifty foot space behind the rock wall enacted by Julie. Masquerade and Shun opened their eyes, looked at each other, nodded, then walked away from the dark barrier.

Dan stepped forward and raised his arms, a large wall of flame rising in front of him. A steady roar filled the room, and the others lifted their arms in front of their faces to shield themselves from the heat.

"Don't you think this is a little much?" Shun shouted.

"Not really!" Dan responded.

"Dan, you're going to turn us all into french fries," Masquerade gritted his teeth, the light from the fire glinting off his mask.

"It's just a little fire! Really, is it that bad?" Dan asked, oblivious to the heat of the flames.

"Yes," Ren agreed, his cheeks feeling like they were stretched tight over his cheekbones.

"I'm pretty sure there is no chance that they'll get in here," Ace announced. "This will dry them out before they get past Shun and Masquerade's wind and dark barrier."

"It's just a little heat!" Dan complained.

"But he's right. There is no way the Vestals will get in here," Shun nodded.

"You might want to rethink that," Hydron muttered, pointing toward a door opening on the other side of the hangar. Several guards dashed through it, heading straight for-

"Alice!" Julie cried, her Crystal Road snaking through the air toward the girl. Alice gasped, looking up from the screen in time to avoid an axe of theirs. It slammed down on the keyboard, causing several of the keys to be dented. Alice stared at the guard with wide, scared eyes, as she took a few steps back in fear. Dan and Shun shot over to Alice's side, fearful for their friend's wellbeing.

"Are you alright?" Dan asked.

"I-I'm fine," Alice said softly, her eyes darting back to the computer screen.

"You want a piece of her? Get a piece of me!" Julie cried, kicking the guard in the face with her skate. He let out a pained grunt and his head snapped back, and Julie did a back spring on her road, her skates forcing her back a few extra feet when she righted herself. She shot forward again, Dan and Shun flanking her.

"Alice! You can do it!" Mira shouted, her whip springing to life in her hands again. Masquerade was suddenly at Alice's side, two twin blades made of darkness alive in his hands.

"Keep working, we'll cover you," he told her.

"Thanks Masquerade!" she gasped, turning back to the computer. She bit her lip as she looked at the dented keys, and tried pressing down on it. It didn't respond until she pressed harder than she did even with the jammed keys on her computer. This was going to be much more difficult now, but thankfully, she was almost done.

She glanced back at the instructions for disabling the program once more, making sure she was correct, and then finished typing in the disable sequence. A window flashed up, with a green bar that quickly filled up.

**The Humane Extirpate Program has been disabled-**

Alice didn't continue reading the window, instead moving to a "NETWORK" window. She quickly accessed the "FILES" section, her eyes flicking down the list.

"Alice... what are... you doing?" Hydranoid asked her.

"I'm gonna delete this file off all the computers in the ship," she told him, scrolling down the list of files desperately. Masquerade grunted, deflecting blow after blow from Alice.

"Why would you want to do that?" he asked.

"This file contains the assembly data for the Humane Extirpate Program as well as its disable data," Alice told him. "If I delete the assembly data and the disable data, it should make it impossible for it to be re-enabled."

"Make it quick, Alice," he said shortly, lashing out with his foot to try to catch the guard off guard. He was unsuccessful.

"I'm working on it," Alice told him, her eyes spotting the correct file. "There!" She hit a few other buttons, amazed that human keyboard shortcuts worked on the Vestal computers.

**Are you sure you want to delete this file?**

Alice hit the Vestal equivalent to the "return" key and a green timer bar came up again.

**File deleted**

Alice grinned, scooping Hydranoid up from the keyboard. Alice then turned to the guard and shot a blast of darkness at his head, making him yell in pain and fall over backwards. She grimaced as she did this, feeling bad that she had harmed someone. She put that thought out of her head though, knowing that he was one of the bad guys.

"Nice. Thanks Alice," Masquerade approved. Alice smiled at him, lifting her visor.

"Learned from the best. Guys! Mission accomplished!" she called. "Time to go!"

All of the brawlers in the room, plus the prince, kicked out at their oppenents, giving them enough time to jump away. Shun, Dan, and Julie swooped around to Mira, Ace and Hydron, who all were too close to get far enough from the weapons. They managed to grab said individuals in time to save them from being hit by a large axe, bringing them back to Alice and Masquerade. Ren reached them right then, and Alice counted heads while Dan had a ring of fire encircle them- literally.

"Ready to go?" Masquerade asked.

"Let's do it!" Alice smiled. Once again, their cards glowed in sync, and they vanished from the large palace. Dan's ring of flames snuffed itself out, leaving the hangar guards to chase wisps of smoke through the air.

**Me: I promised Forever-Forgotten22 that I'd update within 24 hours. Well, I accidentally exceeded that by 1 hour. Sorry... but I got it up!**

**Thank you for reviewing elle baybee, Forever-Forgotten22, Sharpay Evans 11, and animefreak101. I will try to update again before Sunday, but no promises since I told my mom I'd be cleaning out my closet tomorrow, I want to update Ultimatum (which I have been planning since... when... January?) and I have a birthday party to go to on Saturday. And my little sister will be iritable tomorrow since she's at a sleepover tonight. -_- Anyways, thank you for reading and please, take two minutes of your life and write me a review. I know that sounds rude and I'm sorry, but please, I need people to tell me what they think! I'll give you a virtual penny and or a cookie. Your choice. **

**:D**


	20. Desperation

**Sorry that the last chapter was kinda rushed. I wasn't very psyched to write it, I was dying to write Ultimatum, to tell you the truth. But, this chapter, I'm kinda anxious about. Hopefully this one I'll be better about (thank you for pointing that out, Animefreak101). **

**Breezyfeather: Alright! Getting closer to the end...**

**Runo: This should be... fun...?**

**Hydron: Nope.**

**Dan: Not in the slightest. Breezyfeather, how do you plan on slowing this down enough for things to go according to the 3 more chapter plan you promised Animefreak101 and everyone else?**

**Breezy: I'm not sure... I thought I'd be able to do that... Dang it, I know I had a plan worked out, but now I can't remember it! … Oh now I remember! …. AGH THE BLOB ON MY SCREEN IS BUGGING ME! I HATE THE CRACKS!**

**Shun: Will you shut up already? Some of us are trying to sleep!**

**Breezy: It's 9:52 PM. 2 hours to midnight. Why are you trying to sleep?**

**Shun: Ninja.**

**Dan: That explains so much...**

**Shun: what else needed explaining?**

**UGH I'M GONNA SHUT UP NOW!**

Runo sighed, resting her elbows on her knees and keeping her emerald eyes trained on Marucho. His glasses reflected the glow of the floating screens in front of him, and small beeps were continually emitted from the keyboards under his fingers. He was constantly turning to glance at a different screen or keyboard, and it amazed Runo to even think that he understood all of what he was doing. His brow creased in concentration and a small bead of sweat caught the light, shining is glint back to Runo, who blinked. Was it possible to break a sweat while working on a computer? Apparently, when it's Marucho, it is.

"Alice?" Marucho asked, and Runo jumped at the sound of his voice. The others had all been silent since Dan's departure, staring up at the sky until their necks hurt. Eventually they laid down on the ground to stare at the now darkened shadow in the sky that was the palace. Now they sat up and looked at Marucho with undivided attention. Runo turned her gaze toward him as well, hearing Alice's voice filter out of the screens ahead of him.

"Yeah Marucho?" she asked, sounding breathless.

"Did you guys do it? I detected your transport signal," he said, his fingers poised over the keys.

"Masquerade and I accidentally transported ourselves a little to far to the west. We'll be there in ten minutes or so," Alice said, the smile evident in her voice.

"Did you do it? Did you disable the Humane Extirpate Program?" Baron asked, getting up and walking over to Marucho.

"Yeah!" she said breathlessly. "Yeah, we did it!" Large smiles grew on everyone's faces and Runo jumped up in elation. Her wings glowed to life and she shot up into the air, spinning in a circle. She let out a wild yell of happiness, punching the air as she came to a stop. Mylene smiled at her, as did Keith and Gus. Lync looked happy and Volt allowed a slight grin. Shadow, of course, was still cackling, but for once, Mylene didn't tell him to be quiet. Baron flung his arms around Marucho, who yelped in surprise. Marucho grinned at Runo while sweatdropping, then turned back to the computer screens when Baron released him.

"Alice, you'll be here in a few minutes?" Marucho confirmed, unable to keep the smile out of his voice.

"That's right! And then we'll celebrate!" Alice responded.

"Ah yeah!" Dan's voice could be heard in the background. "We'll get a cake and then have a barbaque, and then Mom can make Loin Tips and Liver Kabobs..."

"Dan, no one but Runo and you like Liver Kabobs," Shun reminded him. Runo sighed, grinning and shaking her head. She was in too much of a good mood to have it dampened by Dan's overzealous personality when it came to food.

"Hey, come on!" Marucho laughed and the sound of the others laughing in the background was also heard. Then, Alice spoke again.

"Marucho, we'll be there shortly. See you in a few minutes."

"Alright Alice," Marucho nodded, unable to stop smiling. The connection was closed, and he turned to everyone else in the clearing.

"We did it! We're safe!" he announced, and Baron scooped him up again, hugging him tight. Marucho yelped and tried to get out of Baron's grip, but then Baron lifted him above his head like Dan did the first time they traveled in Mira's trailer. "Hey, put me down! Come on, seriously-"

"Master Marucho, we did it! We stopped Zenoheld! Now we don't have anything to worry about! Why are you panicking? Don't worry, I won't drop you!"

"Put me down, please Baron-" They all laughed again, and Runo just couldn't shake the giddy feeling she got from the laughter. After the stress of their previous situation, this was a drug, almost. It felt so good to laugh, to smile, to know that she was _safe. _To know that everyone was safe. It was an indescribable relief and happiness, one that she would never forget the force of. _Could_ never forget.

She turned her sights to Mylene and Shadow, who had draped his arm over her shoulder. She was looking at him out of the corner of her eye, her eyebrow raised. He didn't seem to notice, instead smirking, amused, at Marucho and Baron. Lync sat on the ground, leaning back on hands as he watched Marucho's glasses fall off his nose and hit Baron in the face. Baron blinked, then gently placed Marucho back on the ground. Marucho knelt and started feeling the ground for the glasses, only finding them when Runo shined a light beam down in front of his face.

"Sorry Master Marucho," Baron laughed nervously.

"Don't worry about it, Baron," Marucho smiled. "It's not really that important anyway! We won!"

"That's not entirely true," Keith said, pointing up at the sky. Everyone blinked at him, following his finger.

"What are you talking a... bout..." Dan asked as he and the others trooped into the clearing. He, like the others, was following Keith's index finger, and noticed the lights on Ves Palace. Runo felt her heart sink and her joyful smile, and mood, fell away. Her happy expression was replaced by that of desperation and disbelief, as well as hopelessness.

Despair settled over Julie's heart, and Alice dropped to her knees, her eyes not once leaving the glowing red lights of the palace. They flashed once, and then a few seconds later, flashed again. An unmistakable warning.

"No way..." Shun whispered.

"This... can't be..." Mira breathed.

"No..." Runo murmured. She floated down easily, her feet touching down on the ground with a small sound. Dan walked over to stand by her side, feeling the same despair and disappointment as her. Runo reached for his hand, and he took it, squeezing it reassuringly. Her right hand curled up to her chest, where it rested as she stared at the glowing red lights. Her beam of light went out, leaving them all bathed in an eerie red glow from the palace.

"But I thought we disabled it," Julie protested in a soft, worried tone.

"I deleted the data that would enable it again," Alice agreed.

"Obviously they backed it up somehow," Hydron muttered. Everyone turned to look at him. "I honestly thought that they only had one file with the information. Apparently they backed it up after I left."

"There's no real point in wondering how it happened. It's done. The thing is going to go off in a few minutes," Ace muttered. Dan looked at him.

"It's too late to go back and try to destroy it," Mira pointed out.

"Disabling it didn't work," Masquerade reminded them.

"We can't get everyone out of here in time to save many lives," Shun added.

"It's my fault" Alice whispered. Everyone turned to look at her as she sank to her knees. "It's all my fault!"

"What do you mean?" Masquerade asked, walking over to her.

"When I disabled the Humane Extirpate Program," she whispered, "a window came up to tell me that it was disabled. I only read the first part. There was more to read."

"Do you think it was only disabled temporarily, and would be enabled again after a few minutes?" Linehalt asked.

"Did it keep charging while it was disabled?" Ace asked.

"Oh my god, this is all my fault... I am _so_ sorry," Alice whispered, her eyes shining with tears.

"Alice, don't worry," Dan reassured her, he and Runo turning toward the distraught red head(**I'm ashamed to write that. I have red hair and I HATE it when people call me a red head. I just couldn't think of any other words, sorry to anyone if that offends them!**). "We'll think of something. We'll be fine."

"O-okay," Alice stammered as Masquerade helped her to her feet.

"So what are we going to do? We've only got a little more than a few minutes!" Lync cried.

"I _refuse_ to let anyone die!" Dan shouted, suddenly unsheathing the knife. Runo yelped, jumping to the side out of surprise. Dan gasped, his body moving on its own accord. He jumped several feet away from Runo, his lip curling and his eyes widening insanely.

"Dan! What are you doing?" Shun cried.

"Saving the world!" Dan yelled in response. He held the knife up, high above his head, and a bright crimson glow started up around him. Julie, Alice, Masquerade, Runo, Marucho, and Shun all gasped, feeling a tingling in each of their chests. Suddenly, a painful burning sensation came over Dan. A pained cry escaped his lips and he sank to his knees, the knife bouncing off the ground and coming to a stop at Keith's feet.

""Dan are you alright?" Drago shouted, obviously shocked as he floated around Dan's shaking form. Dan hissed, his fists clenching.

"It hurts..." he choked.

Runo and Keith, who were both staring at Dan in shock, started toward him, but then let out cries of their own. Both teens dropped to their knees, Keith's hand closing around the hilt of knife at his feet. The glow around Dan faded, but a red one around Keith instantly started up.

"Keith!" Mira cried, starting toward him, but Ace grabbed her wrist, his eyes not once leaving Keith's collapsed, glowing form. The tingling was still there in the rest of the Brawlers, and their eyes clouded over. Julie began to skate over to Keith, as did Alice, Marucho, and Shun. Dan and Runo both began to claw their ways over to Keith, who was blinking in confusion.

"What the heck?" Shadow asked.

"Master Spectra?" Gus asked, kneeling next to Keith and looking like he was about to help him up.

"I... can't... move!" Keith gasped, glancing from side to side. "What's... going... on?"

"The Athame," Masquerade whispered.

"The hidden power?" Volt asked him.

"You don't think...?" Ace cried, stepping in front of Volt and looking up at his face.

"No way!" Baron gasped.

"What are you talking about?" Mylene demanded.

"Ace, what is it?" Mira questioned, her eyes full of worry as she reached for Keith's free hand.

"Hold on. Keith, what happened when you collapsed?" Masquerade asked. Mira pulled Keith's free hand into her lap and she glanced at Dan and Runo, both of which had blank eyes, were obviously in a lot of pain, and looked as though they were possessed again. Dan's eyes were a blazing scarlet, whereas Runo's were glowing a brilliant emerald. Mira bit her lip, knowing that something was wrong as she glanced at Julie, Alice, Marucho, and Shun. All of them were walking like zombies toward Keith, minus the arms stretched out with a dazed look in all of their eyes. Marucho's glowed sapphire, Shun's amber, Julie's dark blue, and Alice's sepia. Mira gulped, turning back to Keith, who was trying to speak.

"I just... my whole body... suddenly started... burning," he forced out. "It was the worst... on the inside... of my elbow-"

"Where the IV was," Mira whispered, finishing for him. Gus was helping Keith sit up, and then Julie's hand came down around his fist. He gasped, looking up at the girl. The dazed look in her eyes vanished and she blinked, glancing around.

"What...?" she exclaimed, meeting Keith's gaze. He was staring at her in shock, and then Julie's eyes widened. "No way! This was in that book!"

"Book?" Ren asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I found this book in the room we got the data from," Julie said hastily. "Alice has it still, she-"

Keith gasped as another hand came down around the hilt of the Athame. He and Julie blinked at its owner, spotting Marucho, blinking as he stood beside them. He glanced at Julie and Keith, appearing surprised that he couldn't move. Then Shun's hand encircled theirs, allowing the ninja to break free of his trance.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Hold up, how come you can talk easier than Keith?" Baron questioned, looking hopelessly confused.

"Because we're the Chosen's that are _supposed_ to use the knife. You guys shouldn't have the ability to control it," Julie told him. Just then, Alice's hand closed around Shun's, and her eyes darted around at everyone in the circle around Keith. A purple-and-black flame burst into being around her figure, and looked desperately at Baron.

"Hurry, grab the knife," she ordered, her eyes wide. "We need a Dextra!"

"A what?" Baron asked, looking clueless.

"All six attributes! And then we need two more people to grab on! Dan and Runo can't reach it, the chemical in the IV won't let them! Baron, grab on," Alice explained hurriedly. Baron hesitated, looking at the others, unsure, until Ace pushed him. Baron yelped, his hands reaching out to catch himself. It touched down on Alice's hand, and then a golden and white flame shot up around him.

"Two more!" Alice insisted. Mira bit her lip, taking a deep breath. She took the hand that was not touching Keith's, and then slammed it down on top of Baron's hand.

"Mira?" Keith asked, and Ace put his hands on her shoulders as she found herself frozen in place. She grimaced at the paralysis, trying to clench her fist, but finding it impossible to do so. A bronze glow grew around her, with small golden sparks glittering every here and there.

Just then, Runo gasped, her eyes widening as she fell flat on the ground. She choked, curling up on her side on the ground, a white and gold glow illuminating the air around her. Her eyes were squeezed shut tightly, and the brawlers all gasped.

"Runo!" Julie cried.

"It... hurts... burns..." she forced out. "Make it... stop..."

"One more, hurry!" Alice cried, her chocolate brown eyes becoming wet as she watched Runo writhe on the ground. The Vexos all looked at each other, debating who would grab the knife last.

Before anyone could stop him, Ren jumped forward, grabbing hold of Linehalt and then reaching forward to grasp the hilt of the knife. The next thing anyone knew, a dark purple flame sprang to life around Ren, and Dan snapped out of his trance. He gasped, his eyes glowing, and then the glow vanished and he collapsed onto his side with a pained grunt.

"Dan!" Drago cried as a bright red glow appeared around Dan.

"Runo!" Tigrerra fretted. Neither teen responded, instead, the glows shot upward, rocketing toward the sky. Dan and Runo gasped, then flipped over onto their backs. They stared up at the columns of light branching up from their own bodies, panting hard with their arms sprawled out to their sides. Their eyes widened at the pillars and gasped as their hair started flying upward, as did their clothes, almost as if there were fans beneath them.

"Dan! Runo!" Marucho cried.

"Are you guys okay?" Ren asked. Dan and Runo blinked, sitting up and finding themselves nearly weightless. They floated a few inches above the ground, staring at each other in shock.

"Dan?" Runo asked.

"Runo?" Dan replied, looking confused. He turned his gaze toward Shun and the others, who were staring at him in shock. Marucho was following the trail of lights in the sky with his eyes, and then they widened with his realization. He let out a yell as he realized what was happening and found that he was suddenly able to move again.

"Look!" Everyone obeyed instantly, their heads whipping toward the palace in the sky. Runo and Dan both followed their gazes, however, they found it hard to see much outside of their colored light pillars. They could see a slight glowing dot high in the sky, just near the moon which was nearly above them. However, there was something odd about the palace this time. Dan squinted, trying to see what it was, and then Mira shouted it out.

"Are those the same lights that are around Dan and Runo?" she asked.

"Look! It follows the right path," Keith whispered.

"But how is that possible?" Mylene asked, searching their faces for an answer.

"The knife only protects," Hydron murmured. Ren glanced at him. "That's it! The knife only protects!"

"So that means..." Marucho began, but trailed off, a broad smile coming over his features.

"The knife is pinpointing the threat and eradicating it!" Shun finished, his facial expression unchanged despite the potentially life saving realization. Alice's face brightened and Julie smiled, punching the air.

"Yes! We're safe!" she cried, however, as Ren stared around at them, his face darkened.

"Wait," he said. The brawlers holding onto the knife turned to look at him, and he met each of their gazes sullenly. "How come their lights are the only ones around the palace?" Alice's eyes widened and she glanced back at her friends, both of which looked pumped. Their pillars snaked high into the sky, intertwining with one another, then wrapped themselves around the palace like a belt. However, there were only two of them, and it only covered a small part of the palace itself. Her eyebrows creased in confusion. Why wasn't it working for the ones gripping the knife, but working for the ones not holding onto it?

"It won't be enough if it's just them!" Alice cried. "We have to create the same effect!"

"How is the question now," Skyress agreed.

"Do we need more people?" Elfin asked.

"You need the one of us that has no attribute," Hydron said quietly, gently placing his shaking hand on top of Ren's. Just then, a huge burst of light erupted from around them. Hydron gasped, a bright, white flame sparking to life around him. The glows around the brawlers touching the blade suddenly shot into the sky, entwining around all of the other ones, including Hydron's white one. Then a bright blue glow appeared around Mylene, who gasped as it shot skyward. The same thing happened around Shadow, Lync, Volt, Ace, and Gus, but with each of their respective attributes.

Looking out over Wardington from Wardington Tower with her teammates in case Ren needed backup, Zenet Surrow yelped as a shining golden glow appeared around her body. The same was the the case for Mason, Lena, Sid, and Jesse, all of whom looked at their human bodies in confusion.

"What's going on?" Plytheon asked Jesse.

"I -" Jesse began, but was cut off when Zenet let out another yelp.

"What?" Sid demanded, turning to face her, but also grunted in surprise when the red glow around him spiraled into the sky. Lena, Mason, and Jesse's all did the same thing, startling all three teens as the pillars of light interlocked and braided together, shooting up as they intertwined with the thousands of other light pillars that branched to this one location from around the world.

"What's happening?" Contestir asked.

"I don't know!" Zenet cried, looking scared.

"Calm down, we need to think logically about the situation," Lena warned. Zenet turned to her fearfully, her golden eyes glittering. Lena walked over to the younger girl and placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "It'll be fine, don't worry," she smiled. Zenet nodded.

Runo and Dan glanced at each other through their twisting pillars of light and nodded, their wings appearing on their backs. It was nearly impossible to see the wings, however, they did allow the floating couple to soar up into the sky. They followed the paths of their pillars, snaking around each other in the process. They both slowed after a few moments, taking in the thousands upon millions of pillars in the center of their hometown.

Their pillars were in the center of an uncountable number of pillars that braided together above Wardington. Each pillar belonged to a brawler that had a fighting spirit. The pillars of Chan Lee, Billy Gilbert, Komba O'Charlie, and Julio Santana were woven in close to the Brawlers and the Vexos. Jenny and Jewls's pillars were identified by Dan and Runo, who glanced over at two intertwining blue and brown pillars coming from the top of a nearby building. The teen pop stars were grinning and holding hands, their free hands giving Dan and Runo a thumbs up.

A silver pillar wrapped around the outside of all of the pillars in the city, and when Dan and Runo looked at it, they were sure they knew who it was.

"Joe?" Dan asked Drago and Runo.

"And Wavern's light," Drago agreed. "I recognize it." Just then, Runo looked up, catching sight of the now colored dot in the atmosphere. She had to squint through the lights of the many pillars woven around their own, but realized that the palace was completely surrounded by columns of light. She smiled, turning toward Dan.

"Time to deliver the final blow, wouldn't you say so?" Runo asked, making a fist and smirking at him. He smirked back.

"You bet!"

The two followed their interlocking pillars up again, thus weaving around each other in their ascent. Runo and Dan's eyes met and they grinned at each other, then extended their arms. Their hands met at the edges of their pillars, each hand bathed in the light of their own and the light of the other. They grinned at each other, then stopped ascending. They lifted their locked hands above their heads, and Runo's hair bands glowed. Dan's gem sparked to life and a rush of power flowed from their clasped hands. It was a braid of rainbow light, containing all the colors of all the attributes.

"Contego!" they both shouted, a cry that was also uttered by those grasping the knife. A huge beam of rainbow light replaced their attribute lights, shooting up toward the palace. Mylene and the others were speechless, as were Zenet and the Gundalians at Wardington Tower. Runo and Dan watched with hopeful faces as the light shot straight toward the palace. Ren and Hydron's mouths were slightly parted. Shun watched with narrowed eyes, whereas Julie and Alice both looked nervous. Marucho, Baron, Ace and Mira all had the same transfixed expression on their faces, and the Vexos appeared to be dumbfounded.

And right then, a huge explosion could be heard. Everyone stared up at the sky in shock as the small glowing dot in the atmosphere was consumed by flame. The light of the explosion showed on everyone's faces, reflecting in all of their eyes. Hydron stared up at the ball of flame, his eyes wide and stinging. "Father..." he whispered. He felt his grip on the knife slacken, and then he dropped to his knees.

Everyone's faces instantly erupted in a smile, with the exception of Ren, Hydron, Shun, and the former Vexos. Hydron was grimacing, feeling himself grow weaker by the second. He knew what was happening, and it scared him, but he didn't regret his decision. He bowed his head, allowing a small smile as he thought about his fate.

"I guess it's fitting," he murmured in a voice only Ren could hear as he closed his eyes. He tilted his head toward the sky then, but kept his eyes closed. "I guess I'll be with him in a little while. Looks like... we can... start..." His body slumped forward. "...over..." he sighed, his head hitting the hard packed dirt of the clearing.

"Hydron!" Ren cried, ripping his hands from the knife.

"Hydron?" Shun asked, sinking to his knees next to the white-clad prince. The smiles faded again that night, instead being replaced with expressions of worry. Runo and Dan quickly floated to the ground, hanging back but watching Hydron nervously. Ren had flipped Hydron over, onto his back, and was now supporting him in his arms. The blond prince's eyes were closed, his mouth open slightly, and his skin was paling.

"What's wrong with him?" Lync asked, looking horrified.

"Is he...?" Keith said quietly, standing up and pulling Mira away, hugging her tightly as she stared in shock at the paling boy.

"I- I don't understand!" Alice whispered, dropping to her knees. She quickly pressed her hand against his chest, and her eyes widened. "Oh my God... Shun, Shun, help me! You've got healing powers, right? Marucho?" Both boys were silent, Shun turning his head away with his eyes closed. Marucho stared at her, bewildered, looking upset. He took a few steps back, and Alice stared at him desperately. Then she looked down at Hydron's face. His lips were turning blue, and she felt despair settle over her.

"I... I don't think there's... anything we can do," Mylene said quietly. She looked down at the ground while Shadow placed his hands on her shoulders, also averting his gaze.

Dan walked up behind Runo and rested a warm hand on her shoulder, making her turn to look at him. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears. He sighed, knowing that even though the boy had kidnapped her, she still had the heart to care about him.

"He sacrificed himself," was what Ren then murmured. "And he knew it."

"How are you sure?" Shun asked softly.

"His hand was shaking when he put it on mine," he replied. "And he talked to himself like he had known the price of his actions beforehand."

Everyone was silent for a few minutes, and when Dan glanced at Marucho, he could see the small blond choking back sobs. Once again, he was reminded of the big heart Marucho had been blessed with. Julie and Baron had gone over to him, and Julie was hugging him tightly, trying to get him to calm down while holding back sobs herself. Alice was being comforted by Shun, and Ace was doing his best to keep Mira from breaking down. Keith was also trying to calm her, while Gus stared down at Hydron with a pitying gaze. Lync and Volt were looking away, eyes closed, and Ren tried to brush away the tears on his eyelashes discretely, but everyone knew what he was doing.

It was hard for all of them to face it, but it was foolish to deny the truth to the matter. Prince Hydron was dead, and he had died for the Brawlers, the ones he had at once tried so hard to eradicate.

Four words echoed in Runo's head, as she pressed her tear-streaked face to Dan's chest in an effort to hide her sadness. They repeated in time with her heartbeat, forcing the truth to be accepted. She didn't want to accept it, but she could see no other explanation as the image of Hydron's lifeless body was imprinted in her mind.

_Prince Hydron is dead._

**First of all, I think this was difficult to write. I was having issues with this chapter for some reason... o_O. I don't get it... **

**Before I end this chapter, I want to say something. JazzGirl123, if you're reading this, then I want to ask you something. Do you recognize these words?**

"**I totally love all authors on this website, even if I don't like what they write sometimes. I am a nice, but devious and self defensive, young girl and I hate it when I'm hated by others. I love love to read and write, loved it since I was six, and I don't believe in critism. I am not a great speller and hate math. Love everyone! SO all critics, screw you!"**

**Sound familiar? Jazzy, come on, if you quit writing, then I'll quit writing. Well, at least posting. Come on, Jazzy. You can't quit because of _one_ person, because _one_ person decided that you would be ideal to pick on. You have to show them that you aren't just gonna sit back and take it! "We had to show them that we weren't just gonna sit back and take it!" – Runo Misaki, Bakugan: New Vestroia, episode 34 preview. If Runo, a character you adore so much, can say that, and can pull through _every single time_ Dan left her alone, then I'm sure that you can do it, too. You've got all of us here on backing you up! I bet you that there is no one that will deny that fact. Come on, Jazzy. Keep writing, for our sake!**

**Review!**


	21. Breath of Life

**It means so much to me that you're all reviewing with such wonderful words. I've been getting nasty reviews from Salty, and the first time I read them, it stung, but I got another review after that, and it meant so much to me that you really do like it. Thank you all so much for sticking with this story right up to the end, and there is one more chapter after this one. It took a while to get this chapter planned out (lots of late nights, I might add). Once again, thanks to all of you who have stayed with me since the beginning of Christmas Disaster! It's been about eight months, so thank you so much for your continued support! To Sharpay Evans 11, elle baybee, animefreak101 and especially Forever-Forgotten22, thank you so much!**

_Nothing._

…_.everything is nothing..._

_...and nothing is everything..._

…_.darkness is the world..._

…_.there is no escape..._

…_.but no pain..._

_Is this place so bad?_

_Maybe it won't be so bad... to sleep here..._

The blond boy was silent, floating in oblivion. No thoughts penetrated his head. Darkness encased him, and a strange tingling sensation was all he could feel. It was everywhere in his body, no part of him was spared. No light penetrated his dark cocoon. No sounds reached his ears. A dizziness began to becoming evident in his head, and before long, he came to the conclusion that he had sensation, therefore, he must have a body.

His eyes opened, and he took in the dark expanse before him. His purple eyes scanned the darkness for signs of life, and after a moment, the darkness around him had substance. There were different shades, and then he was standing on uneven ground. The shades he soon realized were shapes, the shapes of rocks that lined a long, straight path. Different shades of gray and purple met his gaze, and when he turned his eyes to the sky, he only witnessed inky blackness. There were no stars, no clouds, no distant planets. No floating cities. No birds, no bats. Nothing but a dark oblivion.

The boy turned, trying to get a sense of his surroundings. A blue cape was caught on his arms and met resistance in the thick air around him, and the boy was puzzled. He knew what a cape was, but couldn't discern his reason for wearing one. _How ridiculous,_he thought as he pressed a piece of the smooth fabric in between his fingers. _Capes are a children's toy, a garment used in dress up. Magicians are the only adults vain enough to choose to wear such ridiculous things_. He tried to pull the cape from his shoulders, but to his surprise, he found that it was held in place by golden plates on his shoulders. Underneath the cape was a white and black shirt, and he wore matching pants. A pair of brown knee high boots adorned his feet and shins.

Confusion clouded his senses as he ran his fingers over the fabric on his upper body. It felt silky, smooth. It was cool. But these fabrics must have been expensive! It certainly wasn't the material that would be commonly worn by those of average status. His fingers once again closed around the cape hanging from his shoulders, feeling a warmth there that he found slightly comforting. Or at least, he assumed that was the word he sought. He wasn't sure of the exact feeling of comfort.

And then came this next thought, one that sent him spiraling in uncertainty. Who was he, exactly? No name rose to his lips, and he could think of no title to represent himself. Perhaps he was a goofy magician after all. That would explain the cape, wouldn't it?

The boy jumped and whirled around at the sound of a horrified yell, a subtle feeling of fear penetrating his being as all thoughts were forced from his head.. He gasped, taking a step back, at the sight before him.

The whole dark expanse he had stared at before was now a tear in the dimension. He was staring at a huge screen, but everything that was happening beyond it seemed so real. Too real. He stood there in shock and silence, taking in the scene unfolding on the other side of the screen, and then it was all around him. He blinked in confusion, glancing around, and he found himself in a clearing.

There was a sky studded with stars, an inky darkness that was only penetrated by those tiny pinpricks of light millions of miles away. Trees blocked part of the night sky view, their darkened canopies silhouettes against the deep indigo of the night atmosphere. A blueish silver glow was peeking over a tree on one side of the clearing, hiding most of the setting moon. A single, large orange star seemed to glow like a single flame in the sky, pulsing with light as it floated up there. Every so often small bits of flame would fall from the incinerating mass, no doubt concealing actual pieces of the substance burning, but the fiery shards would put themselves out after a few seconds of free fall, and the descending pieces were lost in the dark cloak of night.

The earthen ground was covered by a thick layer of uncut grass. The grass was singed in several places, in circles in some areas and just patches in others. There was one large section that was completely burnt away in a perfect ring, exposing the blackened ground beneath it. The grass on the inside of that ring was singed and flattened, like someone had been standing or lying there for a while. However, nothing inside the clearing was actually alight with flame. It was silent and dark.

The boy, in confusion, looked around again, flinching when he noticed a crowd of people gathered around one point on the right side of the clearing. They were halfway between the middle of the clearing and the treeline, and clearly, something was wrong. Curiosity got the better of him, and he began to make his way over to the group of what looked like teenagers. He was surprised that instead of walking, he seemed to be gliding over the ground. _But I've always done that... haven't I?_ he wondered. _Why does this seem different?_

After a moment, he found himself at the side of a girl with blue hair. Her hair was tied up in two pigtails that stuck out, and they were tied with opal hairbands. Her green eyes were wet and the boy next to her had and arm around her, holding her close to him. She was dressed in white and yellow, and he red and white, with the exception of his shirt which was gray. His red eyes were closed solemnly, and he looked upset.

Come to think of it, everyone in the clearing looked upset. When the blond looked around, he realized that several of the teens were crying, especially the young blond boy with glasses. His eyebrows creased as he tried to figure out what the problem was, and then he noticed a few of the teens kneeling on the ground. One was a girl with red hair that trailed down her back, another was a dark haired boy dressed in green and black. The third person there was a teen with dark skin and silver hair. He wore a black and purple shirt and gray pants, and he was kneeling over something. The blond floated closer, and his eyes widened.

A figure was lying, apparently unconscious, in the arms of the dark-skinned boy. The blond boy's head lolled, and his limbs were limp. The boy in the other's arms was wearing the exact same clothes as the nameless boy standing above them. The nameless boy stared at this scene before him, feeling a mixture of confusion, horror, and awe, because if he was judging the events unfolding around him correctly, then the boy being cradled in the other's arms was dead. And if the dead boy was wearing the same clothes as the nameless one, what did that mean for the nameless one?

"He... looks a lot smaller now... than he did... before..." an orange haired girl in the other ring of spectators whispered, obviously trying to hold back sobs. The boys next to her tried to calm her down, and the nameless boy felt something tug at the edges of his mind. There was something... familiar, about this group of teens, but he couldn't place it.

"Yeah," the mint-green haired boy next to her murmured softly. The nameless boy didn't quite understand. The voices were the trigger, he reasoned, for this strange sensation pulling on the inside of his head. With every word uttered, it seemed like the tugging became stronger, even more insistent, and he was filled with the notion that memory was important.

"What's going on? Who is that?" he asked suddenly, directing his questions toward the dark haired teen next to the silver haired one. Neither of them moved in response to his voice, and no one in the clearing seemed aware of his presence. He blinked, his face clearly showing his confusion, and then a voice cut through the night.

"Prince Hydron of Vestal." The nameless boy jumped at the intensity and sheer volume of the voice, whirling around even though the name had no significance to him. Behind him, he saw nothing but the clearing and more of the mourning teens, and his eyebrows creased to show his confusion. "We are the Six Ancient Soldiers of Vestroia, or now, New Vestroia," the voice came again, and the nameless boy caught on and looked up. He blinked, noticing the six floating beings above him. But because he, who retained no memory, was not sure of the norm of things, he was not surprised by their sudden appearance. Perhaps they had been there all along, he wouldn't know. But it did seem that no one in the clearing was aware of the six floating beings, or of the nameless boy in their midst.

The six beings were all floating in a circle above the nameless boy, looking down at him with interest. The boy was in the center, in between the red and purple-and-black ones, as well as the white and green ones, and the blue and brown ones. All of the figures seemed to be wearing masks of some sort, beautiful, ornate masks, and the boy felt that twinge in his head again. Something about these characters seemed familiar, but he couldn't place it.

"Who are you?" he asked, realizing that they must be aware of him. "Who am I? Why am I here?"

"I am Pyrus Apollonir." The voice seemed to come from everywhere, but the nameless boy's eyes found the red one and somehow came to the conclusion that the voice had come from him. "I am a Pyrus Bakugan. I'm sure you're familiar with Bakugan?"

"Bakugan?" the nameless boy repeated, testing the word. Something felt right about that word. It rolled easily off his tongue, taking form in the air in front of him in the form of sound. "Bakugan..."

"Do you remember what a Bakugan is?" the creature to the left of Apollonir asked. "I am Sub-Terra Clayf."

"Pyrus... Sub-Terra," the boy repeated again, like a young toddler learning to speak for the first time. "And then comes... hay... hi... h..."

"Haos," the white-clad creature to the right of Clayf said, and the nameless boy turned to her. Her mask had pointy, elfish ears that branched out to the side, giving her an intimidating appearance. "I am Lars Lion, the Haos Soldier."

"Pyrus... Sub-Terra... Haos... and now... Dark... Darkus...?" the boy recited, feeling something click.

"Correct. I am Darkus Exceedra, the Darkus Soldier," a large, purple-clad creature announced, and the boy turned to face him.

"Pyrus, Sub-Terra, Haos, Darkus, aqua... no, Aquos!" he recited, excited.

"That is correct my young friend," a raspy voice floated from a large, bearded creature holding a worn wooden staff. "Do you know my name?"

"Um... it's... Frog... no... Froh... Frah... Frosh! Frosh!" the boy cried, his eyes wide. The creature nodded. "So I guess that makes you... the Aquos Soldier, right?" Another nod was earned by the nameless boy, who could feel words pouring into his brain. And now, he turned to the right again, taking in the green, masked female figure. Her mask was tall and looked intricate, and the nameless boy could feel a name rising to his lips. "Ventus... Oberus?"

"Good work," she approved, a smile in her voice. "You have remembered all six Bakugan Attributes. Now, do you remember your identity?"

"I'm... I'm..." he stammered, thrown off by the sudden question. "I am..." The sound of "H" rose to his lips, ready to roll of his tongue, but he couldn't remember the rest of it. "I'm Hydon?" he asked, trying to remember.

"Yes."

"But I only knew that because you said it before," Hydron told them, still looking lost.

"I suppose you're right. Perhaps a few more exercises will help you regain your memory," Apollonir suggested, gesturing toward the group of teens in the clearing. Five more had joined them and were looking around in confusion. The ones that had been there before were looking at them strangely, trying to figure out who they were. A girl with blue hair and glasses spotted the boy with silver hair and called out to him.

"Ren!" The boy with silver hair responded, glancing back toward them. A few others picked up their heads to investigate what was happening, but the sobbing blond on the ground was one of the few that didn't respond.

"Lena?" Ren asked hoarsely, quickly wiping the tears that were streaming down his face away.

"Ren, what happened? We saw the lights-" she froze in mid-sentence, taking in the pale skinned boy in his arms, and the reactions of everyone else in the clearing. She saw the wetness in his eyes, and how the red haired girl next to him appeared to be crying. She stared at him, her eyes wide, and then a boy dressed in brown walked up behind Lena.

"Ren, what's going on?" he asked. "Isn't that Hydron?"

"Yes Mason," Ren whispered. "But... he's..." He fell silent, and for a few moments, no one dared break the silence. Only the quiet flipping of pages was heard, but no one seemed to notice. But then an English accented voice came through, and Lena and Mason glanced back at their comrade.

"When he shall die  
Take him and cut him out in little stars  
And he will make the face of heav'n so fine  
That all the world will be in love with night  
And pay no worship to the garish sun," the teen read out of a book (William Shakespeare, _Romeo and Juliet_). It was at that moment that Hydron realized his predicament, his eyes widening.

"That's... surprisingly fitting," Alice whispered, a bitter smile appearing on her face.

Hydron stared at her, then at his own hands. He couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe that his hands, which appeared so solid, were actually mere fragments of what he had used to be. He no longer had the ability to touch. No longer had the ability to lift anything, or press buttons, or even tuck a loose stand of hair behind the ear of another. Before he realized what he was doing, he had floated forward a few feet so that he was floating directly to the right of Alice. He lowered a hand experimentally, unsure of what to expect. To his horror, it passed harmlessly through her shoulder, and she expressed no awareness of the touch.

Hydron could feel it all rushing back now, all of his memories. They flooded into his mind at once, and images flashed before him, mostly of the battle that had just taken place. His instigation of Dan Kuso, the brunette comforting the Runo in the outskirts of the circle, his switching sides, their struggle to reach the Humane Extirpate Program Device, and his sacrifice. All of it, as well as all his childhood memories, flew back into his mind, and he whirled around to face the Six Ancients. They were still there, their faces impassive for their masks.

"What are you playing at?" he demanded. "Why are you showing me this? Wouldn't it have been better if I didn't realize all that I had just lost?" The Soldiers were silent. "Answer me! Right now!"

"The fact is, Prince Hydron," Exedra started, "is that you willingly gave all of that up. You gave up your life, your throne, and even your hatred, for the sake of others. You used the power bestowed upon you to activate the Ancient Athame."

"So what?" Hydron cried, feeling despair and anger well up inside him. "So what? What does a noble deed matter now? Now that I've..." He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence, the mere prospect of facing the truth making him feel nauseated. He shook his head, glaring at the six Bakugan. He lifted a fist as he snarled, "Well?"

"Because of your selfless sacrifice, we are willing to offer you one more chance." Oberus told him, and Hydron's angry expression melted away.

"What...?" he whispered.

"It takes a great deal of modesty and courage in order to make a decision like yours right on the dot like that," Lars Lion said in her silky smooth voice. "It is very difficult to give up ones possessions, ones comforts, and ones previous views for the sake of others, especially those who you previously viewed as your enemies."

"Because of your act of selflessness after living a life of selfishness that we, the Six Ancient Warriors, are willing to use a method reserved only for the Chosen of the Ancients, to give you a second chance at life," Frosch told him as Hydron turned to face the bearded Aquos soldier.

"For real?" Hydron breathed, amazed.

"We should warn you, however," Clayf protested, and Hydron twisted to face him, "that this method does not come without price. It only has limited power, and can only grant you half of your intended lifespan."

"How much time would I have left then?" Hydron questioned, his heart sinking at the thought that he might only have a few more years left anyway.

"Thirty years," Clayf answered, and Hydron's face erupted in an exited smile.

"I'll do it!" he cried, and he could hear satisfied grunts come from all of those surrounding him. "This way, I'll be able to right the wrongs of my father. I'll be able to bring Vestal into a new age, one that will coexist with the Bakugan on New Vestroia, since you have shown me this kindness even though my father and I were the ones that enslaved your people. Thank you."

"You didn't think you were made a Chosen of the Ancients by accident, did you?" Apollonir asked, sounding amused. Hydron blinked. To be honest, he had never actually thought of that. He hadn't even known he was a Chosen until he placed his hand on the Athame, and by that time, he hadn't had much time to think about it. But now that he did consider it, it seemed odd that he, who had caused such destruction on New Vestroia, would have been marked as a Chosen by the very Bakugan he had sought to conquer. His thoughts must have shown on his face, because Apollonir began to explain.

"You were marked down as a Chosen before you were even born. You were granted the Right to wield the Ancient Athame by us, along with the human Battle Brawlers. Your Vexos comrades were granted a part of the Right, as were the members of the Resistance, and the Gundalians your father employed. However, they would have to have two members of their party to compensate for each member of the Brawlers or yourself absent. So, if three members were absent, six with the Half-Right would have to hold on in order to balance the power," Apollonir explained. "Do you understand?"

"I think so," Hydron nodded.

"Now, because the Brawlers all had powers and would have been able to wield it on their own without a problem, they were not able to wield it safely with substitutes," Frosch picked up where Apollonir had left off. "It would not have worked for those touching it, only those that were absent. The effects were reversed, in a way."

"Alright..." Hydron murmured. "So they needed someone with a Complete Right to give it the extra boost?"

"Exactly," Exedra granted. Hydron looked puzzled and rested one elbow in the palm of his left hand, his right hand cupping his chin as he thought.

"But, if it balanced it out, why did...?" Hydron's throat closed, baring him from voicing the truth about his predicament.

"Why did you die?" Lars Lion asked. Hydron nodded, grateful that she understood. "You lost your life because the energy you possessed was completely consumed by the Athame. Your very life force was pulled from your body, and was utilized by the Athame to protect your friends and the planet Earth."

"That white light was my life force?" he asked, connecting the dots.

"Yes," Oberus nodded. "That pure light was the pure light of your Life Force, your reason for living. Yours was incredibly powerful, as you had just realized that you had allies. But not simply allies. They were friends now, and that meant a lot to you. That is why it was pulled away, complete drained into the Athame. You had made the connection between your lack of Bakugan attribute and the stone on the bottom of the Athame, which is part of the reason why it took your Life Force so forcefully, and you didn't try to stop it."

"I could have?" Hydron asked, blinking.

"Yes," Clayf told him. "You could have called it back. It would have been as simple as saying no. However, you didn't, and it was because you accepted your fate that you ended up sacrificing your Life Force, and thus, your actual life."

"Had you called it back, the Athame's protective powers wouldn't have been enabled. It wouldn't have worked, and everyone would have died," Frosch explained. "Your Life Force was used up as a jump start for the Athame. Had Dan and Runo been able to reach it in time, your actions would not have been necessary."

"Oh." Hydron murmured. He was silent for a moment. "...Thank you... for explaining that."

"Think not of it," Apollonir said, and beckoned the boy forward. Hydron glanced around at everyone, noticing Ren especially as he began to gather the lifeless body in his arms. Ren then got to his feet, and everyone lifted their heads to look at him.

"Can we all go somewhere to rest? I think that after tonight and all that's happened, we all deserve some sleep," he said, his voice still scratchy. Marucho wiped his eyes and sniffed.

"Y- yeah," he sobbed, and Julie put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "You guys... everyone can c-come to my hou-house and sleep," he whimpered, and Baron knelt down to hug the poor small teen with a big heart.

Hydron smiled at them, an acknowledgment that none of them were aware of. He began to walk over to the center of the Bakugan's circle, but was stopped when a heard a loud shriek. He turned in confusion, and even the Ancients seemed startled at the commotion.

Everyone was staring at Zenet in the light of the brightening sky, who looked so terrified that she was ducking behind Sid. He stared at her in confusion.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, sounding irritated.

"G-ghost!" she yelped, pointing directly at Hydron. Hydron stiffened, turning to look at the Six Ancients. Just like before, their faces were impassive for the masks, and Hydron turned back to Zenet. He lifted his hands in a gesture of peace as he began to float over to her, and she whimpered, ducking further behind Sid.

"What are you going on about? There is no such thing-" Sid began, but Zenet shook her head.

"No, no! He's coming over here!" she cried, looking so scared her eyes were watering in the light of the rising sun.

"No, don't be scared," Hydron protested, beside her now. Her eyes widened and she let go of Sid's jacket, stepping out to face Hydron curiously.

"No way..." she whispered, reaching out to touch him.

Everyone else in the clearing was obviously perturbed. Runo was clutching Dan's jacket fearfully, but still staring at Zenet. Sid was just staring at her with a weird expression on his face. Mira was hanging onto Ace while Keith moved in front of them, and Shun moved protectively in front of Alice, as if their actions would protect the girls from ethereal beings. But Hydron didn't notice, instead grimacing when Zenet's hand passed through his chest with no resistance. It tingled painfully and he floated back a bit, out of her reach.

"Hydron?" she whispered. Everyone gasped, and Hydron nodded.

"Yeah, but listen. I'll be back in a few minutes, but _don't tell_. I want it to be a surprise!" Hydron grinned.

"Huh?" Zenet blurted, clearly confused.

"Just trust me!" he grinned, then hurried back to the center of the circle. Zenet stared at him, following with a puzzled expression on her face. She noticed Hydron tilt his head upward and copied his action, taking in the sunrise as it got gradually brighter and gasping when she saw the Six Ancient Soldiers. She stumbled backward, falling onto her backside.

"Zenet! What's wrong?" her Bakugan, Contestir, asked.

"They- there's—uh..." Zenet stuttered, pointing fearfully at the group of Bakugan floating in the air above Hydron. Hydron twisted to look at her, grinning.

"What are you talking about?" Gus demanded.

"You're kidding me!" Zenet cried. "You guys can't see it?"

"Can't see _what_?" Dan asked. Zenet hesitated, glancing back and forth between Dan and Hydron. Hydron winked and then the Ancients extended their hands toward him. He closed his eyes, smiling.

"Be warned, Prince Hydron," Exedra said. "It will not be without pain."

"I'll be fine, just do it!" Hydron cried, tensing.

"Very well," Apollonir obliged, and lightning shot from the tips of his fingers to Hydron's chest. Hydron gasped, arching his back when a bolt hit him in the back, no doubt from Exedra. One by one, the rest of the Soldiers added their powers, and Hydron's spirit body felt like it was being pulled apart at the seams. His chest was on fire, but and then again, so was the rest of him. It felt like someone was holding a flame to every inch of his skin, slowly smoldering the tissue away and then charbroiling his muscles. A bloodcurdling scream escaped his lips, cutting through the night like a blade, however, the only one with the ability to hear it was Zenet, who sank to her knees in shock. She bent over her legs, clutching her ears.

"What are you doing?" she shrieked.

"Zenet!" Lena cried, racing to Zenet's side. Zenet shook her head.

"No, no!"

"What's going on?" Julie yelped, holding onto Marucho while Baron moved in front of the two.

And then, the pain was gone, and Hydron relaxed, his eyes closing. Zenet lifted her eyes when the scream stopped, staring with tears visible in them, at the spot where Hydron was floating. "Huh?" she whimpered, noticing the bright silver glow evident around his translucent body. He smiled, and then, much to her surprise, his form vanished. However, the silver glow around him suddenly let out a sound much like glass breaking, and the glow was reduced to a cloud of sparkles. Zenet's eyes were wide as she stared at the little particles of what looked like pixie dust, watching them float over toward Hydron's body.

The sparkles spiraled around him, then entered his body through his parted lips. The glow of the sparkles vanished inside him, and then, he gave everyone a heart attack. He gasped for air, earning terrified screams from everyone in the clearing. Dan forced Runo behind him, flames growing in the palms of his hands. She didn't protest, but her eyes were glued to Ren and Hydron, who Ren had accidentally dropped on the ground when he moved.

Hydron was panting on the ground, the color slowly returning to his face. No one moved, staring at him in horror and terror. Before long, he was able to sit up. He blinked, looking down at his hands. Easily, he flexed his fingers, and his face broke into a wide smile. He turned to look at everyone in the clearing, trying to hold back laughs at their looks of disbelief. Dan blinked when Hydron looked at him, and his arms lowered. The flames in his palms went out, and he relaxed. Hydron got to his feet, still smiling. His body worked just as it had before, and surprisingly, he felt better than he ever had right now. He turned toward the corner of the clearing, where the Six Ancients had previously resided, and they were all looking at him. His smile softened, becoming one of gratitude.

"Thank you," he softly said, and then everyone seemed to understand what had happened. His voice had been the trigger, and then sound erupted in the clearing as the sun burst over the treeline, signaling the start of a new day, and for Hydron, a whole new life.

**DONE! I wanted to update this so badly... :) I intend to have only one more chapter, and then I'll be focusing only on Ultimatum. Thank you all for sticking with this, again, and please, do me the honor of pressing the button below. Please tell me what you like the most about this, that way I can get a sense of what my readers find captivating. Thank you!**

**That quote from Romeo and Juliet I found on this website: .**

**Review! :D**


	22. The good kind of chaos

**First of all, Animefreak101, you're in luck. I just got your review about 2 minutes ago. And now I'm updating within the next ten minutes. Hope you're still on right now!**

**Okay everybody. This is the final chapter. I want to thank each and every one of you for your support and your reviews throughout the past eight months. It means a lot to me that you all have stuck with this story. I especially want to acknowledge Forever-Forgotten22, Sharpay Evans 11, animefreak101, elle beybey, RockerAlz1 2, PussyCatMewMew, and everyone else who reviewed and read Searching for Spectra and Christmas Disaster. I had one heck of a time writing this and I'm surprised where this took me, as I admit I only expected this to make it to a seventh or eighth chapter. It was fun! So now, without further ado, here is the last chapter of Searching for Spectra. **

Runo smiled, leaning back in her chair. The sun was warm on her face, and on her arms and legs. Her bathing suit was chilled with the cooling ocean water that dampened it, making the midnight blue of it even darker than the bright yellow stars that swirled across the belly of the suit. The white beach chair she sat in was hard, but hot from the warmth of the sun that had shined on it until a few minutes ago. Runo savored the warmth of it after it cooled a little, but was still reluctant to put her arms on the armrests. She knew it would burn with the heat of the sun and didn't quite want to endure it yet.

Runo closed her eyes and sighed, feeling a gentle breeze play across her flushed and nearly sunburned cheeks. It cooled her face and the rest of her drenched body, causing goosebumps to spring to life along her arms and legs. She shivered, and then an arm wrapped itself around her shoulders.

"Hey Runo!" Dan grinned at her, resting his bottom on her burning armrest. He wasn't bothered by it, as his swim trunks were completely soaked through with Hawaiian seawater. He was dripping water and Runo shivered again at the chilly water as it touched her skin.

"Dan!"

"What?"

"You're soaked!"

"Yeah, and?" Runo rolled her eyes and pushed him, earning a yelp of surprise as he fell off the chair. Runo hadn't thought this action through, however, and his arm around her shoulders caused her to be dragged down with him... along with the chair. The two tumbled over in the sand, the chair crashing down on sand near them. Runo groaned while Dan laughed despite being covered in sand. Runo sat up and glared at him, launching herself at the cracking up brunette as he attempted to sit up. She pinned him beneath her and glared down at him as he tried to stop laughing. After a few seconds, Runo made an annoyed face.

"Stop laughing!" she ordered. Dan opened his eyes, gasping but still grinning, took one look at her face, and then burst out chortling all over again. Runo stuck her lower lip out, pouting, as Dan kept cackling beneath her. "What's so funny?" she demanded, and Dan gasped, looking like he was trying to speak, but he just lost his words in a fit of laughter once more. "Dan!" she whined, and his laughter became the silent, unrelenting type that left you robbed of breath. She pouted at him, waiting for him to come around as Keith and Gus walked by.

They both paused to take in the overturned beach chair, Runo pinning Dan's shoulders to the sand, and the expressions on both of their faces. She made a face at them and noticed the smirks on both boys faces. A blush rose to her cheeks as she realized that both of them were wearing swim trunks and swim trunks only—Keith's orange and red with thick flame patterns lining the seams, and Gus's with brown and black designs that were oddly similar to the Bakugan Sub-Terra attribute symbol. Both had golden skin on their torsos, and Keith looked the same as she remembered when he had saved Dan near New Years Day. His hair was plastered to his neck and back (he had gotten into a heated debate with Mira and Mylene to cut it. Guess who won.) and he was cradling a surfboard in his right hand. Gus also held one, and Runo raised her eyebrows at them.

"You're surfing?" she exclaimed, surprised.

"Well after we rented the boards when we first came, Shadow and I figured out how to use them," Keith grinned. "I lost mine when I rescued Dan so I had to pay a fee, but that guy Tim let me rent another one. Now I'm showing Gus how to surf. Okay, my turn. What did he do?"

"He won't stop laughing!" Runo complained like a younger sibling, glaring down at the still snickering teen. Keith and Gus blinked at him and Keith shook his head.

"You never change, Dan," he sighed, his amusement obvious on his face. Dan stopped laughing abruptly and shot Keith a look.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he whined. Keith and Gus laughed, continuing down the beach to the water. Runo watched as she let Dan up, noticing who else had a surf board in the water. Shadow, Ace, Baron, and Shun were already having surfing contests, and with his superior control over his body movements and emotions, Shun was easily beating all of them. Of course, it didn't help that Shadow would have a spaz attack every time he noticed Shun had gotten ahead of him, and he had a knack for crashing into others. While Runo and Dan watched, Shadow lost control of his board again and careened into none other than Ace. The two boys let out yells of surprise and fell into the water, just as a wave crashed over their heads.

"Wipe out!" Zenet shouted, pointing. Shadow emerged from the water laughing like a maniac while Ace's hair was drenched and covering his face. He slowly turned toward Shadow and Dan and Runo snickered, knowing the fate that would soon befall their former enemy. The next thing Shadow knew, he was being attacked by a mint-green haired menace, yelling and demanding to be released.

"This is payback for both the surfboard _and_ whooping my butt in that brawl the other day!" Ace shouted, and then they were both bowled over by a crashing wave.

"Will you two be quiet?" Mylene glared daggers from her spot under a royal blue umbrella. "I'm trying to read!" Runo guessed that she would be unable to pull off a tan due to her extremely pale complexion. She would probably burn quicker than a leaf under a magnifying glass on a hot August afternoon.

"Hey, come on!" Shadow whined. Dan and Runo collapsed in a fit of laughter, earning the bucket of water that was flung in their direction. They gasped at the sudden onslaught of cold sea water and shot to their feet, making surprised faces and searching for whoever had sent the attack. They easily found the amused faces of the Julie and Alice, who were giggling.

"You're gonna pay for that!" Runo yelled, shooting to her feet and sprinting after the two shrieking girls. Dan got to his feet as well, shaking his head doggy style to dislodge the water that flowed into his eyes.

"Run Alice run!" Julie cried between laughs. "She'll flay you alive!"

"You can catch them, Milady!" Tigrerra encouraged, flying after the one giving chase. Runo's hair wasn't tied up right now and, as it was plastered to her back as she ran, just like Julie's whose bikini top didn't affect it in the slightest. Julie stumbled every here and there, and it was obvious that she wasn't used to walking, much less running. The roller skates had taken care of that, and Runo was grateful as she gained on the girl that was out of her element.

"Julie," Gorem warned, and Julie glanced behind her in time to see Runo lunge for her arm. Julie shrieked, grinning, and stumbled to the right. Runo skidded in the sand to her left, and then adjusted her position to something more stable. Her knees bent, arms out to the side and hands fisted as she shifted her feet through the sand and smirked up at the silver-blond Sub-Terra brawler. Julie smirked back at her and ducked to Runo's left, starting Runo after her again.

Alice stopped running to watch as Runo and Julie zig-zagged through the sand, biting back laughs. Then Dan appeared behind her, smirking, and she let out a startled yelp, starting down the sand again. Dan grinning, taking off after her easily.

Julie glanced behind her after skidding around the sand castle she and Marucho had been building until just minutes ago, searching for Runo. She caught sight of Lync and Volt playing volleyball with Zenet, Jesse, Sid, Mason, Ren, and Lena and almost crashed into Hydron, who was carrying a strawberry smoothie and yelled in surprise at her sudden mistake. "Sorry!" Julie called, narrowly avoiding kicking sand into Mylene's alcove.

"Hey!" Mylene cried.

"Sorry!"

Julie blinked, wondering where Runo had gotten to as she slowed, turning back to face the way she was heading. Suddenly, light flashed once, twice, three times, and revealed Runo's smirking, floating form as it flew to Julie's left. Julie gasped, stumbling backward in shock as Runo pushed off the sand, her wings vanishing the same way she had appeared. Julie jumped to the right, once again causing Runo to miss. _But not by much_, she thought.

"Fine, if that's the way you want to play," Julie smirked, the sand beneath her feet hardening. Runo's face once again showed a smirk as they went at it again.

Dan and Alice were equally matched in this race, and Alice continually disappeared and reappeared behind Dan, pushing him forward in order to get a head start herself in the other direction. Dan was getting coated in hot sand by now and was no closer to catching Alice than he was getting Mylene to date Shadow. Not that he liked to play match maker.

Dan picked up the pace, thankful that Marucho had managed to find them a private beach on Maui that was nestled in the center of a horseshoe shaped cliff. His wings burst to life, and he jumped up into the air. Easily he caught up to Alice, reaching out to grab her shoulder. His hand closed around her shoulder, but then someone bowled him over. Dan gasped, his wings snuffed out as his back collided with the shifty yet burning hot sand. He blinked, looking up into the chocolate brown eyes of none other than Alice!

"Huh?" he blurted stupidly, glancing up at the other figure he had been chasing. That Alice turned to face him, smirking. It was a weird expression to see on her face, when usually Alice appeared sweet and innocent. Now she seemed conniving and devious, her golden eyes sparkling.

Dan looked between the two of them, confused, and then Shun walked up, rubbing his hair out of his face as he headed for his towel. He stopped short when he noticed Dan lying on the beach, completely covered from head to toe in sand, and two red haired girls standing over him. He blinked, but that was the only real reaction he gave to the scene.

"Shun! Did you know that Alice has an evil twin?" Dan cried, noticing the other bucket of water in the golden-eyed Alice's hands. He started to try to sit up, but Julie dropped to her knees and slid the last few feet behind him. She grabbed his shoulders and forced him down again, smirking. Runo floated behind Julie, looking down at Dan in amused confusion. "Shun! Runo!" Dan started to panic, struggling. Julie rolled her eyes and twitched her finger. Sand flowed over his wrists and suddenly pinned him down forcefully. Dan froze, surprised, and then Julie and Alice jumped back.

"No, no no!" Dan cried, flailing, and then the Alice with golden eyes tossed the bucket of water onto Dan. Dan gasped, closing his eyes as the water washed over his face. Julie and Alice giggled when Dan spat some of it out, and the golden-eyed Alice started laughing really hard. Golden light weaved around her and then encased her, then pushed away from her body, revealing Zenet in a blue bikini. She was pointing at Dan and cracking up. Julie snapped her fingers and the sand binding Dan to the earth was loose and gritty again, allowing him to sit up and push his hair out of his eyes.

"So what, is Runo next?" he asked, smirking. Runo shot him a glare as the others turned to look at her. She grinned nervously.

"Uh oh," she muttered, shooting upward. Alice and Dan's wings appeared and Dan grabbed the bucket from where Zenet had dropped it, jumping up into the air with it.

Shun watched as Dan shot toward the ocean with little interest, wondering if because Zenet could take on the forms of others she could also inherit their powers. Dan filled up the bucket as he floated far enough over the water to not touch the bottom and attempted to ascend once more, but ended up falling back into the ocean with a yell. Shun smirked. _Too heavy, smart guy_, he shook his head, turning around. Julie narrowly avoided being smacked with his surfboard, but neither of them noticed.

"Julie, wanna play some volleyball?" Zenet offered.

"Sure!"

Shun wiped his still wet hair out of his eyes, noticing Hydron sitting on a towel. He leaned forward, his elbows perched on his knees, and his feet braced on the ground. He was wearing swimming trunks, but he was still perfectly dry. His skin was smooth and pale, and he looked like he had recently applied sunscreen. His skin glinted with an oily sheen that told Shun all that he needed to know. The teen's hair was perfectly dry but windswept from the occasional harsh sea breeze. His cheeks were pink from the heat, and he was smiling slightly. A pair of orange sunglasses were perched on the bridge of his nose. A chilled smoothie rested in the sand next to his towel, and sand stuck to the sides. Shun assumed it had condensation on the outside as he started toward the revived boy prince.

"How come you're not swimming?" he asked. Hydron looked up at him, grinning and removing his sunglasses. He placed them on the towel next to him.

"I made a bet with Mylene and Ren. Whichever one of us that can stand the head long enough wins. Mylene's cheating," he said, raising his voice at the last sentence. Mylene shot him a cold glare and went back to her book. Shun shook his head.

"So... do you want to go swimming?"

"Yeah, of course I do," Hydron told him. "Who wouldn't want to go swimming?"

"Well you'd expect Dan not to, since he almost drowned the last time he was in the ocean," Shun shrugged. Hydron rolled his eyes.

"I know, Keith told me," he said. "But he never changes, does he?"

"You catch on fast. Good skill to have around here," Shun remarked. Hydron shrugged.

"Do you mind if I use you as a human shield? Thanks!" Runo cried, grabbing Hydron under his arms. Hydron yelled in surprise as she shot out over the ocean, holding Hydron by his underarms.

"What are you doing?" he yelped, staring at the sea raging a few feet below his bare feet.

"Put the bucket down!" Runo demanded at Dan, who had finally managed to get the bucket filled with water airborne. Dan looked at her, at Hydron who was begging him with his eyes to listen to his girlfriend, and then at the bucket. He shrugged, then pulled the bucket into his arms so that he was supporting the bottom of it with one hand and holding the top of it steady at the rim with the other.

"Dan..." Runo warned, eying the bucket nervously. Dan smirked, then easily flung the water at her. She gasped when it collided with yer and Hydron turned his face away, pursing his lips when it started dripping down his face. He and Runo squinted at Dan, who was laughing in mid air but thankfully holding onto the bucket. Runo glared daggers at him, an expression that was all but wasted on him as he could barely open his eyes.

It was either the water or the sunscreen that caused the boy to slip from her grasp. Hydron didn't know what caused it exactly. Maybe it was Runo's hands getting sweaty. Maybe it was the sunscreen he knew Julie had over applied. Or maybe it was just the water from the bucket seeping in between her palms and his skin. He would never find out. All that he realized was that he was falling, and then he was soaking wet. Water invaded his mouth and nose, stinging the delicate tissue there. Hydron squeezed his eyes shut, feeling his toes sink into soft sand. Without thinking and acting on pure instinct, he pushed off the ocean floor, surging toward the surface.

Within seconds, his face broke through the surface. He gasped for air frantically, treading water with ease. He looked around, squinting for the sting in his eyes.

"Sorry!" Runo called.

"You lost!" Ren called from the shore. Hydron made a face and glared at Dan, who was trying to hold back laughs.

"You're dead Kuso!" Hydron shouted.

"I'll help you with that!" Runo declared, swooping down to haul Hydron from the water.

"Looks like things are all back to normal," Wilda said to Mira. She smiled as Runo yelled at Dan and he countered by challenging her to a brawl. She threatened him with a lamp and he backed off. Mira giggled.

"Sure looks like it," she smiled.

Almost.

Hours later, as the sun began to set behind the cliff, a shadowed figure stood on the edge of the outcrop of rock. Lucky for her, none of the six brawlers she was concerned with noticed her. Then again, only one did, and he was not one she had worries about. Her attention was focused on the six whose leader was a Darkus brawler, the group that had two girls and four boys. The group that laid in the sand by the square marked for volleyball. Or at least, she assumed that was what the game was called.

If these six were here, it could only mean _they_ were recruiting.

The girl on the clifftop watched with a stony gaze, not flinching once, even when a sharp wind tugged at her white, vest-like garment. The fall didn't concern her, for even if she did lose her balance, she would be able to catch herself. However, she wasn't willing to risk being caught by the enemy, so she didn't venture as close to the edge as she would have liked.

With a sigh, she turned, but not before catching sight of the figure that quickly stood up. She glanced back, quickly trying to determine if this figure was one of the six brawlers. His most striking and easy to notice feature was his dark hair, even from this distance, and she relaxed somewhat. None of the teen brawlers she was concerned with had black hair. She allowed herself to gaze at him for a brief moment. He was tall, with pale skin that was slightly burnt under his eyes. His swim trunks were a deep, forest green, and he looked strong, even from this distance. She couldn't see his eyes or make out any other features, nor determine if he was friend or foe.

For a moment, neither figure moved. No shouts of warning rose from the private beach below, and the girl sighed. She turned away, noticing that this character was of no particular interest to her at this point and time. She had more important matters to worry about, like the fate of her people.

She stepped away from the edge and easily strode thirty paces forward, until she was out of sight of any prying eyes. The top of the cliff was just rocks for a good mile, then there was a line of green. She assumed a forest was located over there, but didn't bother checking to see. It didn't matter anyway.

She held her arm out in front of her, and the device there flashed once, twice, three times. A dimensional gate suddenly opened not five feet from her, but it didn't startle her. She glared into it, then glanced behind her.

"You ready to go?" she asked the other figure. He looked at her, his indigo eyes sparkling in the fading light of the sunset behind the girl. He nodded, gesturing into the gate.

"After you, Princess."

"Alright."

She jumped into the gate, her vest-like garment billowing out behind her. The man previously behind her jumped in after her, and it closed behind him with little sound. The rushing of the gate was no longer heard on the clifftop, all was silent. And on Earth, things were peaceful once more.

**If any of you are wondering why Zenet has golden eyes in this fiction while she is transformed into another person, it's because at this point, she is younger than she is in Gundalian Invaders. She hasn't completely mastered the skill of Morphing yet.**

**I intend there to be no sequel to this. Sorry! As much as I'd like to know how the war between Nethia and Gundalia turns out with the aid of the Brawlers AND their powers, I don't think I can commit myself to that. At least not right now. Maybe some other time, but not right now.**

**Thank you all for sticking with this, again. I really appreciate it. It's a long time (in my eyes) to stay with one story and it's sequel. It means a lot to me that you all liked it enough to stick with it. Once again, thank you so much, and I really do hope that you'll decide to click on the button below. This is it for Searching for Spectra, and now I get the vacation I deserve! Off to the airport in the morning! (blech)**

**Oh page count. Wanna know how many pages Searching for Spectra was?**

**One hundred thirty seven.**

**Cool, right?**

**Review for one last time!**

**PLEASE!**

**:)(:**


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